title: Cell fusion and hybrids in Archaea: prospects for genome shuffling and accelerated strain development for biotechnology.
abstract: The ability to exchange DNA between cells is a molecular process that exists in different species in the domain Archaea. Such horizontal gene transfer events were shown to take place between distant species of archaea and to result in the transfer of large genomic regions. Here we describe recent progress in this field, discuss the potential use of natural gene exchange processes to perform genome shuffling and argue its possible biotechnological applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Adit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naor
authors.forename: Uri
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gophna
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics*; D001709:Biotechnology; D002459:Cell Fusion; D032621:DNA Shuffling; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D020745:Genome, Archaeal
keywords: Archaea; Cell fusion; Haloferax mediterranei; Haloferax volcanii; Sulfolobus