Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) plays a significant role in rapidly propagating diverse traits throughout bacterial populations, thereby accelerating natural evolution and leading to complex community structures. Critical gene transfer rates underlying these occurrences dictate the efficiency and speed of gene spread; these rates are often highly specific to HGT mechanism and environmental context, and have historically been challenging to reliably quantify. In this review, we examine recent works that leverage rigorous quantitative methods to precisely measure these rates in a variety of settings beginning with in vitro studies and advancing to in situ measurements; we emphasize contexts where quantification across multiple scales of complexity has led to fundamental biological insights. Finally, we highlight the applications of these measurements and suggest potential methodological advances to improve our understanding.

中文翻译：

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复杂系统中水平基因转移的定量分析。

水平基因转移 (HGT) 在整个细菌种群中快速传播不同性状方面发挥着重要作用，从而加速自然进化并导致复杂的群落结构。这些事件背后的关键基因转移率决定了基因传播的效率和速度；这些比率通常高度特定于 HGT 机制和环境背景，并且历来难以可靠地量化。在这篇综述中，我们检查了最近的工作，这些工作利用严格的定量方法在各种环境中精确测量这些速率，从体外研究开始，并推进到原位测量；我们强调跨多个复杂尺度的量化导致基本生物学见解的背景。最后，