Department of Plant Pathology, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
BMC Biol. 2011 Feb 22;9:9. doi: 10.1186/1741-7007-9-9.
Sequencing of expressed genes has shown that nematodes, particularly the plant-parasitic nematodes, have genes purportedly acquired from other kingdoms by horizontal gene transfer. The prevailing orthodoxy is that such transfer has been a driving force in the evolution of niche specificity, and a recent paper in BMC Evolutionary Biology that presents a detailed phylogenetic analysis of cellulase genes in the free-living nematode Pristionchus pacificus at the species, genus and family levels substantiates this hypothesis.
表达基因的测序表明，线虫，特别是植物寄生线虫，拥有据称是通过水平基因转移从其他生物界获得的基因。流行的正统观点是，这种转移是生态位特化进化的驱动力，最近发表在 BMC 进化生物学杂志上的一篇论文详细分析了自由生活的线虫 Pristionchus pacificus 的纤维素酶基因在种、属和科三个水平上的系统进化，支持了这一假说。
