Evolution of genome base composition and genome size in bacteria

Hiromi Nishida

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00420

Abstract

Evolution of genome base composition and genome size in bacteria

Highlights

In bacteria and archaea, genome size and guanine–cytosine (GC) content are correlated (Bentley and Parkhill, 2004; Musto et al, 2006; Mitchell, 2007; Suzuki et al, 2008; Guo et al, 2009)
The GC content is similar among closely related bacteria, sometimes, the GC content is similar in phylogenetically distant bacteria
Bacterial chromosome organization is mediated by nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) (Wang et al, 2011)

Summary

Introduction

Genome size and guanine–cytosine (GC) content are correlated (Bentley and Parkhill, 2004; Musto et al, 2006; Mitchell, 2007; Suzuki et al, 2008; Guo et al, 2009). I hypothesize that the GC content distribution may be related to the variation in bacterial NAPs (Nishida, 2012b, 2013). The obligate host-associated bacteria contain short genomes with low GC content (Mira et al, 2002; Moran, 2002; McCutcheon and Moran, 2012). Deletion of the genes involved in DNA repair may contribute to a GC-poor genome (Moran et al, 2008).

Results

Conclusion