Bacteria of the Rhizobiaceae family have been the focus of research for decades. One of the important reasons for this is the peculiarities of their interaction with plants, varying from parasitism (in the case of «Agrobacterium» species causing crown gall or hairy root diseases) to mutualism (in the case of Rhizobium species, causing the formation of nitrogen-fixing nodules). Studies of recent years indicate that the line between parasitism and mutualism in plant-rhizobial interactions is very arbitrary. Development of NGS and NNGS methods, accompanied by the emergence of new bioinformatics tools provides new opportunities for deeper study of genomes and transcriptomes of species, certain gene combinations and differentially expressed genes specific for the symbiotic interactions. These new data lead to the idea of the important evolutionary role of horizontal gene transfer for the formation and development of plant-rhizobial symbioses. Avalanche-like accumulating facts in favor of horizontal gene transfer involving rhizobia require systematization and new experimental approaches for more targeted research, which dictates the need to create a new research topic for Frontiers in Plant Science journal.
The papers to be published within the Topic would contribute to a broad range of fundamental and applied aspects of horizontal gene transfer in Rhizobiaceae including (but not limited to):
1. Methods of analyzing horizontal gene transfer processes, based on genetic diversity data (association indices, linkage statistics, analysis of phylogeny topologies for different genes, uneven nucleotide composition, etc.)
2. Participation of horizontal transfer in the formation of functional clusters and their further history, including, a symbiotic cluster of rhizobia Ti (and Ri)-plasmids of agrobacteria.
3. Analysis of the phenomenon of genospecies - how they arise and are maintained.
2. Horizontal gene transfer from rhizobia to plants and other eukaryotes
3. Functions of rhizobial genes in plants
Bacteria of the Rhizobiaceae family have been the focus of research for decades. One of the important reasons for this is the peculiarities of their interaction with plants, varying from parasitism (in the case of «Agrobacterium» species causing crown gall or hairy root diseases) to mutualism (in the case of Rhizobium species, causing the formation of nitrogen-fixing nodules). Studies of recent years indicate that the line between parasitism and mutualism in plant-rhizobial interactions is very arbitrary. Development of NGS and NNGS methods, accompanied by the emergence of new bioinformatics tools provides new opportunities for deeper study of genomes and transcriptomes of species, certain gene combinations and differentially expressed genes specific for the symbiotic interactions. These new data lead to the idea of the important evolutionary role of horizontal gene transfer for the formation and development of plant-rhizobial symbioses. Avalanche-like accumulating facts in favor of horizontal gene transfer involving rhizobia require systematization and new experimental approaches for more targeted research, which dictates the need to create a new research topic for Frontiers in Plant Science journal.
The papers to be published within the Topic would contribute to a broad range of fundamental and applied aspects of horizontal gene transfer in Rhizobiaceae including (but not limited to):
1. Methods of analyzing horizontal gene transfer processes, based on genetic diversity data (association indices, linkage statistics, analysis of phylogeny topologies for different genes, uneven nucleotide composition, etc.)
2. Participation of horizontal transfer in the formation of functional clusters and their further history, including, a symbiotic cluster of rhizobia Ti (and Ri)-plasmids of agrobacteria.
3. Analysis of the phenomenon of genospecies - how they arise and are maintained.
2. Horizontal gene transfer from rhizobia to plants and other eukaryotes
3. Functions of rhizobial genes in plants