title: Sequence and analysis of chromosome 2 of Dictyostelium discoideum.
abstract: The genome of the lower eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum comprises six chromosomes. Here we report the sequence of the largest, chromosome 2, which at 8 megabases (Mb) represents about 25% of the genome. Despite an A + T content of nearly 80%, the chromosome codes for 2,799 predicted protein coding genes and 73 transfer RNA genes. This gene density, about 1 gene per 2.6 kilobases (kb), is surpassed only by Saccharomyces cerevisiae (one per 2 kb) and is similar to that of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (one per 2.5 kb). If we assume that the other chromosomes have a similar gene density, we can expect around 11,000 genes in the D. discoideum genome. A significant number of the genes show higher similarities to genes of vertebrates than to those of other fully sequenced eukaryotes. This analysis strengthens the view that the evolutionary position of D. discoideum is located before the branching of metazoa and fungi but after the divergence of the plant kingdom, placing it close to the base of metazoan evolution.
authors.affiliation: IMB Jena, Department of Genome Analysis, Beutenbergstr. 11, 07745 Jena, Germany. gernot@imb-jena.de
authors.forename: Gernot
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Glöckner
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eichinger
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Szafranski
authors.forename: Justin A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pachebat
authors.forename: Alan T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Bankier
authors.forename: Paul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Dear
authors.forename: Rüdiger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baumgart
authors.forename: Genís
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parra
authors.forename: Josep F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Abril
authors.forename: Roderic
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guigó
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumpf
authors.forename: Budi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tunggal
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Quail
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Platzer
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenthal
authors.forename: Angelika A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Noegel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001482:Base Composition; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics*; D018244:Chromosomes, Artificial, Yeast / Q000235:genetics; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005800:Genes, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D017125:Genes, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D020161:Physical Chromosome Mapping; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D012343:RNA, Transfer