Tracing the vertical and horizontal lines of bacterial evolution back to the root. (IMAGE)

University of Bristol

Tracing the vertical and horizontal lines of bacterial evolution back to the root.

Caption

Gene transfers (movement of genes between bacterial lineages) have hampered traditional efforts to study bacterial evolution in deep time. Coleman et al. used a new method that combines the vertical and horizontal components of bacterial evolution to draw inferences about the the nature of the earliest Bacteria and the deepest divides in the bacterial tree.

Credit

Gergely J. Szöll?si

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