These symbiotic relationships provide clues as to how genetic material was exchanged between bacteria and beetles. Key findings highlight the role of horizontal gene transfer, the incorporation of ...

Almost all leaf beetles have incorporated foreign genetic material into their genome, which is responsible for the production of enzymes necessary to digest plant cell wall components. For example ...

Then, Wade and Goodnight took beetles from the individual subpopulations ... of a range expansion due to high levels of random genetic drift. Such deleterious mutations are said to "surf" on ...