title: Reductive genome evolution at both ends of the bacterial population size spectrum.
abstract: Bacterial genomes show substantial variations in size. The smallest bacterial genomes are those of endocellular symbionts of eukaryotic hosts, which have undergone massive genome reduction and show patterns that are consistent with the degenerative processes that are predicted to occur in species with small effective population sizes. However, similar genome reduction is found in some free-living marine cyanobacteria that are characterized by extremely large populations. In this Opinion article, we discuss the different hypotheses that have been proposed to account for this reductive genome evolution at both ends of the bacterial population size spectrum.
authors.affiliation: 1] Université Lyon 1, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Biomtrie et Biologie volutive (LBBE), UMR5558, F-69622, France. [2] Université de Lyon, CNRS, French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) de Lyon, Laboratoire d'Informatique en Images et Systèmes d'Information (LIRIS), UMR5205, F-69621, France.
authors.forename: Bérénice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Batut
authors.affiliation: Université Lyon 1, INRIA, CNRS, LIRIS, UMR5205, F-69622, France.
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knibbe
authors.affiliation: Université Lyon 1, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Biomtrie et Biologie volutive (LBBE), UMR5558, F-69622, France.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marais
authors.affiliation: Université Lyon 1, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Biomtrie et Biologie volutive (LBBE), UMR5558, F-69622, France.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Daubin
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D020635:Buchnera / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D059646:Genome Size; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D048929:Prochlorococcus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development