Abstract
The completely sequenced genome of the small parasitic bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium has been dubbed “the minimal gene complement” (Fraser et al., 1995). Whereas this is indeed the smallest known genome of a cellular life form (see Chapter 40), there is no evidence it is minimal in any sense. We argue that a much closer approximation of a minimal self-sufficient genome, able to support a cell without relying on import of functionally active proteins, can be derived from the set of genes shared by the M. genitalium genome and the complete genome of another parasitic bacterium, Haemophilus influenzae (Fleischmann et al., 1995).
A Minimal Gene Set for Modern-type Cellular Life Derived by Comparing the Haemophilus influenzae and Mycoplasma genitalium Genomes
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Mushegian, A.R., Koonin, E.V. (1998). A Minimal Gene Complement for Cellular Life and Reconstruction of Primitive Life Forms by Analysis of Complete Bacterial Genomes. In: de Bruijn, F.J., Lupski, J.R., Weinstock, G.M. (eds) Bacterial Genomes. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6369-3_37
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6369-3_37
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