Re: Lateral gene transfer

Paul A. Nelson (pnelson2@ix.netcom.com)
Wed, 14 Aug 1996 09:33:13 -0700

Steve Clark wrote, in response to my question about experimental
studies of lateral gene transfer:

>Would transposable elements, such as retroviral genomes,
>intracisternal particle sequences, etc. qualify?

Howard Temin, your legacy lives on! :-) Actually, I don't think
retroviral phenomena are directly relevant to what I'm asking, although
they certainly are (must be) part of the picture.

Here's the sort of experiment I'd find impressive -- someone fix
the details here if necessary:

1. Determine the complete sequences of two simple eukaryotic
species. We thus know whose genes belong to whom, a priori.

2. Culture those species together with a bunch of retroviruses
(whose genomes have also been completely sequenced, of course)
which we believe may act as vectors.

3. Assay the mess, after a while, to see which genes ended up where.

Could that be done?

Paul Nelson