Study shows unified process of evolution in bacteria and sexual eukaryotes

Bacteria adapt to habitats through random genetic mutations and gene exchange. But how does an advantageous mutation spread from a bacterium to a population? Does the gene sweep through a population or does an individual bacterium obtain the gene, then replicate its genome to form an adapted population? Researchers have shown that genes can sweep through populations, indicating that the process of evolution in bacteria is very similar to that of sexual eukaryotes.

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