Detection of genomic islands via segmental genome heterogeneity.

ABSTRACT: While the recognition of genomic islands can be a powerful mechanism for identifying genes that distinguish related bacteria, few methods have been developed to identify them specifically. Rather, identification of islands often begins with cataloging individual genes likely to have been recently introduced into the genome; regions with many putative alien genes are then examined for other features suggestive of recent acquisition of a large genomic region. When few phylogenetic relatives are available, the identification of alien genes relies on their atypical features relative to the bulk of the genes in the genome. The weakness of these 'bottom-up' approaches lies in the difficulty in identifying robustly those genes which are atypical, or phylogenetically restricted, due to recent fore

SUBMITTER: Arvey AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2760805 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature