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Yeasts stole bacteria genes to survive in insect stomachs

It is one of the clearest cases yet found, the researchers suggest, of the transfer of genes from the bacterial domain to organisms such as fungi: in essence, the arcing over of one branch on the tree of life to donate genetic material to an altogether separate one.The findings of the study, which involved collaborators from North America, The Netherlands and China and was led by Jacek Kominek and Drew Doering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, are reported in the journal Cell.