Pål Jarle Johnsen

TL;DR: In this article, the authors review studies on the release, breakdown and persistence of bacterial and plant DNA in soil, sediment and water, with a focus on the accessibility of the extracellular nucleic acids as substrate for competent bacteria.

TL;DR: There is a need for improved methods for accurately determining the degradation routes and the persistence, integrity and potential for horizontal transfer of DNA released from various organisms throughout their lifecycles.

TL;DR: Antibiotic stress was shown to affect the DNA content of OMVs as well as their hydrodynamic diameter and zeta potential, and Morphological observations suggest that OMVs from A. baylyi interact with recipient cells in different ways, depending on the recipient species.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that natural transformation facilitates interspecies transfer of genetic elements, suggesting that the transient presence of DNA in the cytoplasm may be sufficient for genomic integration to occur.

TL;DR: The findings reveal that short and damaged, including truly ancient, DNA molecules, which are present in large quantities in the environment, can be acquired by bacteria through natural transformation, suggesting that natural genetic exchange of DNA from dead and even extinct organisms to contemporary bacteria can take place over hundreds of thousands of years.