Table 1 Modes of intercellular and interkingdom DNA transfer.
| Horizontal transfer mode | Documented transfers |
|---|---|
| Uptake of environmental DNA | Bacteria -- bacteria [74, 168, 169] |
| Plant -- bacteria [170, 171] | |
| Plastid transfection [172] | |
| Mammalian cell transfection [173, 174] and lipofection [175, 176] | |
| Conjugal transfer | Bacteria -- bacteria [74] |
| Bacteria -- yeast [177] | |
| Bacteria -- plant [178, 179] | |
| Viral transduction and gene transfer agents | Bacteria -- bacteria [74, 180] |
| Bacteria -- plant [181] | |
| Animal cell -- animal cell [182] | |
| Animal cell -- virus [183] | |
| Parasitic or endosymbiotic association | Plant -- fern [184] |
| Plant -- plant [91, 90] | |
| Bacteria -- invertebrate [89] | |
| Undetermined mechanism | Archaea -- bacteria [76] |