遺傳材料在非交配物種間的橫向轉(zhuǎn)移（HT）在細菌中很常見,，并且越來越多地被認為是真核演化中的一個重要力量,。
后生動物中迄今所介紹的大多數(shù)HT實例都涉及移動遺傳元素（主要是轉(zhuǎn)位子），但使得相差很大的物質(zhì)間這種交換成為可能的機制卻不清楚?，F(xiàn)在,，Gilbert等人發(fā)現(xiàn)，轉(zhuǎn)位元素是通過在由不同物種共享的寄生蟲的基因組中“搭便車”來在這些物種間傳播的,。
具體來說,，長紅錐蝽（Rhodnius prolixus）（一種以四足動物血液為食、是人類錐蟲病傳播媒介的蟲子）的基因組中有四個截然不同的轉(zhuǎn)位子家族,，它們?nèi)肭职ㄘ撌蠛退墒蠛镌趦?nèi)的一系列不同四足動物的基因組,。這些轉(zhuǎn)位子家族中的其中一個也存在于名為“靜水椎實螺”的塘螺中，這種螺是感染很多脊椎動物的吸蟲的一種傳播媒介,。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Nature doi:10.1038/nature08939
A role for host–parasite interactions in the horizontal transfer of transposons across phyla
Clément Gilbert,Sarah Schaack,John K. Pace II,Paul J. Brindley& Cédric Feschotte
Horizontal transfer (HT), or the passage of genetic material between non-mating species, is increasingly recognized as an important force in the evolution of eukaryotic genomes1, 2. Transposons, with their inherent ability to mobilize and amplify within genomes, may be especially prone to HT3, 4, 5, 6, 7. However, the means by which transposons can spread across widely diverged species remain elusive. Here we present evidence that host–parasite interactions have promoted the HT of four transposon families between invertebrates and vertebrates. We found that Rhodnius prolixus, a triatomine bug feeding on the blood of various tetrapods and vector of Chagas’ disease in humans, carries in its genome four distinct transposon families that also invaded the genomes of a diverse, but overlapping, set of tetrapods. The bug transposons are ~98% identical and cluster phylogenetically with those of the opossum and squirrel monkey, two of its preferred mammalian hosts in South America. We also identified one of these transposon families in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, a cosmopolitan vector of trematodes infecting diverse vertebrates, whose ancestral sequence is nearly identical and clusters with those found in Old World mammals. Together these data provide evidence for a previously hypothesized role of host–parasite interactions in facilitating HT among animals3, 7. Furthermore, the large amount of DNA generated by the amplification of the horizontally transferred transposons supports the idea that the exchange of genetic material between hosts and parasites influences their genomic evolution.
