title: Genome size reduction through multiple events of gene disintegration in Buchnera APS.
abstract: The evolution of the endosymbiont Buchnera during its adaptation to intracellular life involved a massive reduction in its genome. By comparing the orthologous genes of Buchnera, Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae, we show that the minimal genome size of Buchnera arose from multiple events of gene disintegration dispersed over the whole genome. The elimination of the genes was a continuous process that began with gene inactivation and progressed until the DNA corresponding to the pseudogenes were completely deleted.
authors.affiliation: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva and Departament de Genètica, Universitat de València, Apartado 22085, 46071, València, Spain. Francisco.Silva@uv.es
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moya
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D020635:Buchnera / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D017353:Gene Deletion; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D011544:Pseudogenes; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000235:genetics