Association of purine asymmetry, strand-biased gene distribution and PolC within Firmicutes and beyond: a new appraisal.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Firmicutes often possess three conspicuous genome features: marked Purine Asymmetry (PAS) across two strands of replication, Strand-biased Gene Distribution (SGD) and presence of two isoforms of DNA polymerase III alpha subunit, PolC and DnaE. Despite considerable research efforts, it is not clear whether the co-existence of PAS, PolC and/or SGD is an essential and exclusive characteristic of the Firmicutes. The nature of correlations, if any, between these three features within and beyond the lineages of Firmicutes has also remained elusive. The present study has been designed to address these issues.

Results

A large-scale analysis of diverse bacterial genomes indicates that PAS, PolC and SGD are neither essential nor exclusive features of the Firmicutes. Pol

SUBMITTER: Saha SK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4070872 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature