中文摘要：

基因组岛（genomic island）是一类具有特定结构和功能的大片段DNA的总称，常可发生水平转移，细菌可经过接合、转导、转化等方式获得基因组岛。基因组岛往往具有比较独特的碱基组成特征及功能特点，根据基因组岛对宿主菌生物活性所造成的影响，可将基因组岛分为致病岛、耐药岛、代谢岛和共生岛（symbiosis island）等。随着微生物基因组测序工作不断进展，越来越多的基因组岛正为人们所认识。因此，就基因组岛的基本特征、转移机制、进化途径以及功能特点进行综述，将为我们研究微生物进化提供一个新视角。

英文摘要：

The genomic islands are large DNA segments with special structure and function. They can always be horizontal transferable, and host bacteria can acquire genomic islands by conjugation, conduction and transformation. Genomic islands are characterized for their base composition pattern and functional feature. We divided genomic islands into pathogenic island, antibiotic-resistance island, metabolitic island and symbiosis island according to their impact on their host bacteria biological activity. As the microorganism sequencing makes continuous progress, more and more genomic islands are recognized. Therefore, the review by focusing on the genomic islands＇ basic feature, horizontal transfer mechanism, evolutionary pathway and their functional trait will provide a new view on microorganism evolution.