Phylogenomic analysis of natural selection pressure in Streptococcus genomes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In comparative analyses of bacterial pathogens, it has been common practice to discriminate between two types of genes: (i) those shared by pathogens and their non-pathogenic relatives (core genes), and (ii) those found exclusively in pathogens (pathogen-specific accessory genes). Rather than attempting to a priori delineate genes into sets more or less relevant to pathogenicity, we took a broad approach to the analysis of Streptococcus species by investigating the strength of natural selection in all clusters of homologous genes. The genus Streptococcus is comprised of a wide variety of both pathogenic and commensal lineages, and we relate our findings to the pre-existing knowledge of Streptococcus virulence factors.

Results

Our analysis of 1730 gene clusters rev

SUBMITTER: Anisimova M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2031904 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature