1976 8 150/1 It is well known that biochemically distinct bacteria share common phage receptors and it seems possible that receptor sites may be disseminated and re-arranged in non-random fashion among cell populations by mobile genetic elements (viruses and plasmids) as well as by random mutational drift.
1993 E. N. K. Clarkson (ed. 3) ii. 34/2 Many spontaneous mutations, especially those on a larger scale, may be due to mobile genetic elements.
2010 15 Apr. 955/2 The genome is unusually gene-poor, but rich in the mobile genetic elements known as transposons.