Tracing lifestyle adaptation in prokaryotic genomes.

Frontiers in Microbiology
Eric Altermann

Abstract

Lifestyle adaptation of microbes due to changes in their ecological niches or acquisition of new environments is a major driving force for genetic changes in their respective genomes. Moving into more specialized niches often results in the acquisition of new gene sets via horizontal gene transfer to utilize previously unavailable metabolites, while genetic ballast is shed by gene loss and/or gene inactivation. In some cases, larger genome rearrangements can be observed, such as the incorporation of whole genetic islands, providing a range of new phenotypic capabilities. Until recently these changes could not be comprehensively followed and identified due to the lack of complete microbial genome sequences. The advent of high-throughput DNA sequencing has dramatically changed the scientific landscape and today microbial genomes have become increasingly abundant. Currently, more than 2,900 genomes are published and more than 11,000 genome projects are listed in the Genomes Online Database. Although this wealth of information provides many new opportunities to assess microbial functionality, it also creates a new array of challenges when a comparison between multiple microbial genomes is required. Here, functional genome distribut...Continue Reading

Citations

May 31, 2014·Genome Announcements·Joseph M SturinoEric Altermann
Oct 2, 2012·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·M D CrespoS Kathariou
Oct 28, 2019·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Nikola PalevichGraeme T Attwood
Feb 23, 2018·Frontiers in Microbiology·Satoshi KawaichiRyuhei Nakamura
Oct 10, 2020·Microbiology Resource Announcements·Daniel A BastíasLinda J Johnson
Jan 6, 2021·Food Microbiology·Nikola PalevichGale Brightwell
Feb 6, 2021·Life·Macauley J GreenPhilip M Williams
May 16, 2021·The Journal of Microbiology·Zhenzhen LiShancen Zhao

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