Martin Lercher on Muck Rack

Martin Lercher

Cologne, Düsseldorf
As seen in: Night Science, Apple Podcasts, Nature, PLOS, PLOS Biology, PNAS, Genome Biology, Science Magazine, Aeon, stol.it, FEBS Network
Theoretical biophysicist and co-host of the Night Science Podcast with @ItaiYanai (nightscience.buzzsprout.com @nightsciencepod).
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Articles

The fate of horizontally acquired genes: rapid initial turnover followed by long-term persistence

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By Swastik Mishra, Martin Lercher, Käthe Weit
| biorxiv.org
Abstract A major driver of bacterial evolution is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the acquisition of genes from other strains or species. Transfers between closely related taxa are more likely to succeed, while the pervasive deletion bias of bacterial genomes drives frequent turnover of horizontally acquired genes. However, whether the rate of gene loss after acquisition is constant across lineages or time remains unclear.
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Openness guides discovery - Nature Biotechnology

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By Itai Yanai, Martin Lercher
| Nature Verified
In reality, research projects grow through an evolutionary process. Variation — the substrate of evolution — is provided through the emergence of new questions and avenues of investigation. The research team must then choose which directions to pursue, a process akin to natural selection1. Along with this evolution at the macro-scale, a much more orderly process is required at the micro-scale. Within each step, thoughtful study design leads to robust experiments and analyses.
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Horizontal Gene Transfer Inference: Gene presence-absence outperforms gene trees

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By Swastik Mishra, Martin Lercher, Heinrich Heine
| biorxiv.org
Abstract Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a fundamental driver of prokaryotic evolution, facilitating the acquisition of novel traits and adaptation to new environments. Despite its importance, methods for inferring HGT are rarely systematically compared, leaving a gap in our understanding of their relative strengths and limitations. Validating HGT inference methods is challenging due to the absence of a genomic fossil record that could confirm historical transfer events.
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