Slideshow: Examples of Eukaryotic Horizontal Gene Transfer

© istock.com, DanVostok; © istock.com, Milan SimonovicThe BovB retrotransposon was first nearly one-fifth of the cow genome and is also abundant in most ruminants and other mammals. Before the turn of the 21st century, it was also spotted in vipers, leading scientists to suggest that it moved between the mammals and reptiles via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). More recently, BovB sequences have been identified in ticks, leeches, and other nonspecific parasites, providing scientists with potential vectors for such inter-animal transfers.