Current Dataset

This dataset contains transferred genes from 14 HGT papers, and is a work in progress. A certainty metric was created to assess the likelihood of a gene transfer. This metric has five levels of certainty, with the higher levels signifying a greater confidence in the gene transfer event. For example, papers that included the use of both in situ hybridization (or RNAi or Crispr) and phylogenetic analysis have a level five certainty. In situ hybridization is a molecular technique that shows the location of a specific sequence of DNA in the biological sample, which excludes the chance that the gene is a result of contamination. Phylogenetic analysis is a reliable method for identifying genes that have been horizontally transferred
Studies that utilized both RNA sequencing (like quantitative PCR, ESTs, Race method) and phylogenetic analysis were assigned a level four certainty. This evidence demonstrates that the gene is actively expressed in the organism using RNA sequencing. Research papers that use both Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (or southern blotting or DNA probes) and phylogenetic methods/sequence base methods have a certainty level of three. Using PCR can confirm the presence of the gene in the biological sample but also can amplify contamination. Papers that used both a sequence-based method such as BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) and a phylogenetic analysis were assigned a level two certainty. Lastly, papers that only use one method of detection such as sequence-based methods or phylogenetic analysis or PCR or RNA sequencing were assigned a level one certainty.