Given that horizontal gene transfer between and among prokaryotes seems to be a relatively frequent occurrence, why does it appear to be so rare between prokaryotes and eukaryotes (except perhaps in early times)?
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I would add something to Adam's list of reasons why, at least for multicellular euks: even when such elements make it into a germline cell, and even if they are expressed and positively selected, there is still an extremely thin probability that they will ever be "chosen" to become part of the next generation (which is a random process, at least for higher euks). An inserted element at its moment of birth is but one allele in an otherwise large gene pool.
Posted by: Welkin | January 09, 2009 at 08:57 AM