Plagiarism in the Poaceae: the role of lateral gene transfer in grass evolution

Lateral gene transfer (LGT) was once thought to be the domain of bacteria. However, this dogma has been overturned by the ever increasing number of transfer events that have been unequivocally documented in a broad range of eukaryotes. LGT of large DNA fragments has been shown to spread functional genes amongst the grass family, in wild and crop species alike. Whilst a majority of the work to date has utilised a single reference genome per species, we now have the resources to look at how these genes accumulate in a pangenome framework. We show that LGT is an ongoing process in grasses, but the rate at which genes are gained varies among lineages. It is also apparent that a majority of the LGTs we detect have a restricted distribution, only occurring in a particular region of a species range. These may represent recent adaptive additions to the pangenome and include genes associated with energy production, disease resistance and abiotic stress tolerance. Ultimately, the sharing of adaptive genetic material within grasses has the potential to accelerate adaptation and drive evolutionary shifts in this globally important group of plants.