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Foreword

Nature Reviews Microbiology 3, 675–678 (1 September 2005) | doi:10.1038/nrmicro1253

Horizontal gene transfer: perspectives at a crossroads of scientific disciplines

Barth F. Smets & Tamar Barkay

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has a crucial role in microbial evolution, in shaping the structure and function of microbial communities and in controlling a myriad of environmental and public-health problems. Here, Barth F. Smets and Tamar Barkay assess the importance of HGT and place the selection of articles in this Focus issue in context.