Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Principle for Evolution of Life?
A number of studies have highlighted that adsorption to minerals increases DNA longevity in the environment. Such DNA-mineral associations can essentially serve as pools of genes that can be stored across time. Importantly, this DNA is available for incorporation into alien organisms through the pro...
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doaj-9799e0ca01424191a7fa693f20a929022020-11-25T01:29:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2018-09-01910.3389/fmicb.2018.02217387006Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Principle for Evolution of Life?Karina Krarup Sand0Karina Krarup Sand1Stanislav Jelavić2Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, United KingdomNano-Science Center, Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DenmarkNano-Science Center, Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DenmarkA number of studies have highlighted that adsorption to minerals increases DNA longevity in the environment. Such DNA-mineral associations can essentially serve as pools of genes that can be stored across time. Importantly, this DNA is available for incorporation into alien organisms through the process of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Here we argue that minerals hold an unrecognized potential for successfully transferring genetic material across environments and timescales to distant organisms and hypothesize that this process has significantly influenced the evolution of life. Our hypothesis is illustrated in the context of the evolution of early microbial life and the oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere and offers an explanation for observed outbursts of evolutionary events caused by HGT.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02217/fullnucleic acidlateral gene transfermetagenomicsmineral-DNA interactionmineral evolutionevolution of life |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Karina Krarup Sand Karina Krarup Sand Stanislav Jelavić |
spellingShingle |
Karina Krarup Sand Karina Krarup Sand Stanislav Jelavić Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Principle for Evolution of Life? Frontiers in Microbiology nucleic acid lateral gene transfer metagenomics mineral-DNA interaction mineral evolution evolution of life |
author_facet |
Karina Krarup Sand Karina Krarup Sand Stanislav Jelavić |
author_sort |
Karina Krarup Sand |
title |
Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Principle for Evolution of Life? |
title_short |
Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Principle for Evolution of Life? |
title_full |
Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Principle for Evolution of Life? |
title_fullStr |
Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Principle for Evolution of Life? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mineral Facilitated Horizontal Gene Transfer: A New Principle for Evolution of Life? |
title_sort |
mineral facilitated horizontal gene transfer: a new principle for evolution of life? |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
issn |
1664-302X |
publishDate |
2018-09-01 |
description |
A number of studies have highlighted that adsorption to minerals increases DNA longevity in the environment. Such DNA-mineral associations can essentially serve as pools of genes that can be stored across time. Importantly, this DNA is available for incorporation into alien organisms through the process of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Here we argue that minerals hold an unrecognized potential for successfully transferring genetic material across environments and timescales to distant organisms and hypothesize that this process has significantly influenced the evolution of life. Our hypothesis is illustrated in the context of the evolution of early microbial life and the oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere and offers an explanation for observed outbursts of evolutionary events caused by HGT. |
topic |
nucleic acid lateral gene transfer metagenomics mineral-DNA interaction mineral evolution evolution of life |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02217/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT karinakrarupsand mineralfacilitatedhorizontalgenetransferanewprincipleforevolutionoflife AT karinakrarupsand mineralfacilitatedhorizontalgenetransferanewprincipleforevolutionoflife AT stanislavjelavic mineralfacilitatedhorizontalgenetransferanewprincipleforevolutionoflife |
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1725097010513575936 |