title: Computational and phylogenetic validation of nematode horizontal gene transfer.
abstract: Sequencing of expressed genes has shown that nematodes, particularly the plant-parasitic nematodes, have genes purportedly acquired from other kingdoms by horizontal gene transfer. The prevailing orthodoxy is that such transfer has been a driving force in the evolution of niche specificity, and a recent paper in BMC Evolutionary Biology that presents a detailed phylogenetic analysis of cellulase genes in the free-living nematode Pristionchus pacificus at the species, genus and family levels substantiates this hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Scholl
authors.forename: David McK
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Bird
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002480:Cellulase / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009348:Nematoda / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D002480:Cellulase