Combining Shigella Tn-seq data with gold-standard E. coli gene deletion data suggests rare transitions between essential and non-essential gene functionality.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Gene essentiality - whether or not a gene is necessary for cell growth - is a fundamental component of gene function. It is not well established how quickly gene essentiality can change, as few studies have compared empirical measures of essentiality between closely related organisms.

Results

Here we present the results of a Tn-seq experiment designed to detect essential protein coding genes in the bacterial pathogen Shigella flexneri 2a 2457T on a genome-wide scale. Superficial analysis of this data suggested that 481 protein-coding genes in this Shigella strain are critical for robust cellular growth on rich media. Comparison of this set of genes with a gold-standard data set of essential genes in the closely related Escherichia coli K12 BW25113 revealed that an

SUBMITTER: Freed NE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5011829 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature