A computational approach to the functional screening of genomes.

ABSTRACT: Comparative genomics usually involves managing the functional aspects of genomes, by simply comparing gene-by-gene functions. Following this approach, Mushegian and Koonin proposed a hypothetical minimal genome, Minimal Gene Set (MGS), aiming for a possible oldest ancestor genome. They obtained MGS by comparing the genomes of two simple bacteria and eliminating duplicated or functionally identical genes. The authors raised the fundamental question of whether a hypothetical organism possessing MGS is able to live or not. We attacked this viability problem specifying in silico the metabolic pathways of the MGS-based prokaryote. We then performed a dynamic simulation of cellular metabolic activities in order to check whether the MGS-prokaryote reaches some equilibrium state and produces the n

SUBMITTER: Chiarugi D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1994977 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature