The effect of codon usage on the success of horizontal gene transfer

Abstract

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a central determinant of prokaryotic evolution. It was demonstrated that organisms with similar codon bias tend to be involved in more HGTs. Thus, dissimilarity in codon bias seems to be a central barrier to HGT. In this chapter, we will review the mechanisms by which codon bias contributes to the success of HGT. We also discuss the possibility that frequent HGT contributes to codon bias similarity within a microbial community, and the ramifications of these associations.