This is just super interesting. The potential for life to modulate mutation rates in response to stress, as well as for populations to share beneficial genes in biofilms and microorganismal populations in dynamic soil regions heavily influenced by fungi is neat. The ecology of horizontal gene transfer: https://www.cell.com/trends/genetics/abstract/S0168-9525(26)00037-5 Mycorrhizal control of microbial gene transcription and taxonomic composition in the rhizosphere and bulk soil: https://academic.oup.com/ismej/article/19/1/wraf282/8384209