Clemson genetics and biochemistry researcher Jeff Tomkins and graduate student Monica Munoz-Torres are part of the national research team. Their research on insects and tiny worms, called nematodes, focuses on lateral gene transfer in which foreign genes are transferred into the DNA of a host.

Their discovery is reported in the Aug. 30 edition of Science Express, which provides electronic publication of selected research papers that have recently been accepted for publication in the journal Science.

The scientists discovered chains of genes from the bacterium Wolbachia pipientis in insects and nematodes. While there still are many research questions about Wolbachia to be answered, Tomkins speculates that the microbe's ability to potentially alter traits and reproduction of its hosts may one day help control plant and animal pests and encourage beneficial ones.

"Lateral gene transfer is a phenomenon that occurs in nature in which foreign genes, usually from a microbe, are transferred into the DNA of a plant, animal or another microbe," Tomkins said. "The occurrence of this happening in animals is considered to be very rare.

"We confirmed the unique occurrence of lateral gene transfer in four insect and four nematode species. Potential Wolbachia to host transfers were also detected computationally in three additional sequenced insect genomes," said Munoz-Torres.

"Wolbachia lives in the reproductive tract of the host to which the genes have been transferred," Tomkins said. "Interestingly, many of the genes that have been transferred are completely functional in the DNA of their new host. It is postulated that this may be a newly discovered method of how higher-level organisms can develop new traits by receiving new genes from various microbial species."

Wolbachia infects as many as 20 percent of all insect species, but research so far has found that the bacteria are temperature-sensitive and will not live in warm-blooded animals. By treating infected insects with antibiotics to remove Wolbachia from its host, researchers also learned that once the DNA is transferred, it becomes a permanent part of the host's genome.

For more information on Clemson's graduate programs in genetics and biochemistry, visit www.clemson.edu/genbiochem/gradprograms.html.

For more information on Clemson's graduate programs in Entomology, visit http://entweb.clemson.edu/studentp/degrees/index.htm.

For more information about Clemson's graduate program in biochemistry and molecular biology, visit: www.clemson.edu/genbiochem/gradprograms.html