Analysis of plasmid genes by phylogenetic profiling and visualization of homology relationships using Blast2Network.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Phylogenetic methods are well-established bioinformatic tools for sequence analysis, allowing to describe the non-independencies of sequences because of their common ancestor. However, the evolutionary profiles of bacterial genes are often complicated by hidden paralogy and extensive and/or (multiple) horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events which make bifurcating trees often inappropriate. In this context, plasmid sequences are paradigms of network-like relationships characterizing the evolution of prokaryotes. Actually, they can be transferred among different organisms allowing the dissemination of novel functions, thus playing a pivotal role in prokaryotic evolution. However, the study of their evolutionary dynamics is complicated by the absence of universally shared gen

SUBMITTER: Brilli M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2640388 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature