Evaluation of genomic island predictors using a comparative genomics approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Genomic islands (GIs) are clusters of genes in prokaryotic genomes of probable horizontal origin. GIs are disproportionately associated with microbial adaptations of medical or environmental interest. Recently, multiple programs for automated detection of GIs have been developed that utilize sequence composition characteristics, such as G+C ratio and dinucleotide bias. To robustly evaluate the accuracy of such methods, we propose that a dataset of GIs be constructed using criteria that are independent of sequence composition-based analysis approaches.

Results

We developed a comparative genomics approach (IslandPick) that identifies both very probable islands and non-island regions. The approach involves 1) flexible, automated selection of comparative genomes for e

SUBMITTER: Langille MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2518932 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature