Detecting the molecular scars of evolution in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex by analyzing interrupted coding sequences.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Computer-assisted analyses have shown that all bacterial genomes contain a small percentage of open reading frames with a frameshift or in-frame stop codon We report here a comparative analysis of these interrupted coding sequences (ICDSs) in six isolates of M. tuberculosis, two of M. bovis and one of M. africanum and question their phenotypic impact and evolutionary significance.

Results

ICDSs were classified as "common to all strains" or "strain-specific". Common ICDSs are believed to result from mutations acquired before the divergence of the species, whereas strain-specific ICDSs were acquired after this divergence. Comparative analyses of these ICDSs therefore define the molecular signature of a particular strain, phylogenetic lineage or species, which may be

SUBMITTER: Deshayes C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2277376 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature