Shrinking genomics.
Two bacteria are featured this month, and both are at the lower end of the genome size scale. The first, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, belongs to a group of bacteria that have been studied both as important human and animal pathogens and in the pursuit of understanding the essential functions of a self-replicating minimal cell. The second, Nanoarchaeum equitans, is an obligate symbiont that only grows in co-culture with another archaeon. N. equitans seems to be the coelacanth of the microbial world--it has been assigned to a new phylum and represents a primitive form of prokaroytic life.
Thomson
Nicholas R
NR
Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.
Sebaihia
Mohammed
M
Cerdeño-Tárraga
Ana M
AM
Holden
Matthew T
MT
Parkhill
Julian
J
D000818:Animals; D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D019843:Archaeal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020745:Genome, Archaeal; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D045686:Mycoplasma gallisepticum / Q000235:genetics*; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013559:Symbiosis
D019843:Archaeal Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins