How is a horizontal gene transfer different than mutation?

A mutation is a random copy error in a gene. Horozontal gene transfer is a way for organisms to share genetic material with one another. The new DNA isn't an inaccurate copy. It is dna from an external source. read more

Especially in the case of horozontal gene transfer in bacteria, it is much more similar to sexual gene transfer than to mutation, the primary difference being that the shared gene can be expressed by the recipient, instead of just their offspring. read more

Mutation is a change in nucleotide sequence in a single gene whereas horizontal gene transfer involves the transfer of many genes to a cell. Contrast genotype and phenotype. Genotype is the sequence of nucleotides in the DNA of a cell. read more