A machine learning framework for interpreting phylogenetic tree patterns in interkingdom horizontal gene transfer (opens in new tab)

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the movement of genetic material between unrelated organisms, is widely recognized as an important driver of genome evolution in bacteria. In eukaryotes, however, the evolutionary impact of HGT remains debated. The identification of interkingdom HGT (iHGT) is especially challenging due to the lack of gold standard methods. Traditionally, iHGT identification has relied on manual inspection of phylogenetic trees, a process that is subjective, difficult to reprodu...