Bacteria Are Smartphones and Mobile Genes Are Apps

Bacterial core and accessory genome components are analogous to the operating system and applications of smartphones. The core genome provides stable taxonomy and species lists, but phenotypes reflect the mobile pool of accessory genes. This suggests changes to the ways we define bacterial species a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in microbiology (Regular ed.) 2016-12, Vol.24 (12), p.931-932
Main Author: Young, J. Peter W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
accessory gene
Bacteria
Bacteria - classification
Bacteria - genetics
core genome
DNA, Bacterial - genetics
Genes, Bacterial
Genome, Bacterial
Humans
Internal Medicine
Mobile Applications
Phenotype
Smartphone
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Description
Summary:Bacterial core and accessory genome components are analogous to the operating system and applications of smartphones. The core genome provides stable taxonomy and species lists, but phenotypes reflect the mobile pool of accessory genes. This suggests changes to the ways we define bacterial species and describe bacterial communities.
ISSN:0966-842X
1878-4380
DOI:10.1016/j.tim.2016.09.002