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When they allowed two subspecies of bacteria to evolve together, horizontal gene transfer eventually allowed them to develop into hybrids. 40% of the transfers are used to increase adaptation. Having the species grown together makes the hybrids evolutionary stronger than alone. The gene from other organisms, either other bacteria or eukaryotes, binds to the surface of the cell and is transported inside the cell where it recombines with the genes in the cell's chromosomes. They found that the genes transfer approaches a constant rate at 11 genes per hour. It can take a long time for genes that are part of cell metabolism to become fully integrated functionally. A lot of the evolution of bacteria can be explained by horizontal gene transfer between different bacteria to increase adaptation. In the hybrids the genes that were transferred were expressed more than the genes that were not. Horizontal gene transfer over all is a major factor in bacterial evolution which makes stronger and more fit bacteria than both original ones in the exchange. 

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