Insights into the evolutionary process of genome degradation

Studies of noncoding and pseudogene sequence diversity, particularly in Rickettsia, have begun to reveal the basic principles of genome degradation in microorganisms. Increasingly, studies of genes and genomes suggest that there has been an extensive amount of horizontal gene transfer among microorg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current Opinion in Genetics & Development 1999-12, Vol.9 (6), p.664-671
Main Authors: Andersson, Jan O, Andersson, Siv GE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
DNA, Bacterial - chemistry
DNA, Bacterial - genetics
Evolution, Molecular
Genes, Bacterial - genetics
Genome, Bacterial
Methionine Adenosyltransferase - genetics
Molecular Weight
Plasmids - genetics
Pseudogenes - genetics
Rickettsia
Rickettsia - genetics
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Summary:Studies of noncoding and pseudogene sequence diversity, particularly in Rickettsia, have begun to reveal the basic principles of genome degradation in microorganisms. Increasingly, studies of genes and genomes suggest that there has been an extensive amount of horizontal gene transfer among microorganisms. As this inflow of genetic material does not seem generally to have resulted in genome size expansions, however, degenerative processes must be at the very least as widespread as horizontal gene transfer. The basic principles of gene degradation and elimination that are being explored in Rickettsia are likely to be of major importance for our understanding of how microbial genomes evolve.
ISSN:0959-437X
1879-0380
1879-0380
DOI:10.1016/S0959-437X(99)00024-6