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
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Benner, S. A., A. D. Ellington, and A. Tauer. 1989. Modem metabolism as a palimpsest of the RNA world. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:7054–7058.
Danson, M. J. 1988. Archaebacteria: the comparative enzymology of their central metabolic pathways. Adv. Microb. Physiol. 29:165–231.
Fitsch, W. M. 1970. Distinguishing homologous from analogous proteins. Syst. Zool. 19:99–106.
Fleischmann, R. D., M. D. Adams, O. White, R. A. Clayton, E. F. Kirkness, A. R. Kerlavage, C. J. Bult, J.-F. Tomb, B. A. Dougherty, J. M. Merrick, et al. 1995. Whole-genome random sequencing and assembly of Haemophilus influenzae Rd. Science 269:496–512.
Fraser, C. M., J. D. Gocayne, O. White, M. D. Adams, R. A. Clayton, R. D. Fleischmann, C. J. Bult, A. R. Kerlavage, G. Sutton, J. M. Kelley, et al. 1995. The minimal gene complement of Mycoplasma genitalium. Science 270:397–403.
Jensen, R. A., and W. Gu. 1996. Evolutionary recruitment of biochemically specialized subdivisions of family I within the protein superfamily of aminotransferases. J. Bacteriol. 178:2161–2171.
Koonin, E. V., A. R. Mushegian, and K. E. Rudd. 1996a. Sequencing and analysis of bacterial genomes. Curr. Biol. 6:404–416.
Koonin, E. V., R. L. Tatusov, and K. E. Rudd. 1996b. Protein sequence comparison at a genome scale. Meth. Enzymol. 266:295–322.
Koonin, E. V., and P. Bork. 1996. Ancient duplication of DNA polymerase inferred from analysis of complete bacterial genomes. Trends Biochem. Sci. 21:128–129.
Miller, S. L. 1987. Which organic compounds could have occurred on the prebiotic earth? Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quantitative Biol. vol. LII, p. 17–
Muller, M. 1988. Energy metabolism of protozoa without mitochondria. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 42:465–488.
Olsen, G. J., C. R. Woese, and R. Overbeek. 1994. The winds of (evolutionary) change: breathing new life into microbiology. J. Bacteriol. 176:1–6.
Postma, P. W., J. W. Lengeler, and G. R. Jacobson. 1993. Phosphoenolpyruvate: carbohydrate phosphotransferase systems of bacteria. Microbiol. Rev. 57:543–594.
Tatusov, R. L., A. R. Mushegian, P. Bork, N. P. Brown, W. S. Hayes, M. Borodovsky, K. E. Rudd, and E. V. Koonin. 1996. Metabolism and evolution of Haemophilus influenzae deduced from a whole-genome comparison with Escherichia coli. Curr. Biol. 6:279–291.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6369-3_37
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7925-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-6369-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive