Identification of a competence regulon in Streptococcus pneumoniae by genomic analysis

Abstract

Sequencing of whole genomes has become a powerful tool for studying the biology of microorganisms. Since whole genome sequencing started three years ago, the sequences of ∼12 microbial genomes have been resolved, and 40–50 additional projects are under way. Sequencing of the Streptococcus pneumoniae genome by The Institute for Genome Research (TIGR) belongs to the latter category, but the nearly completed sequence has already been made available to the scientific community through TIGR's Web site (http://www.tigr.org). The genome sequences of other pneumococcal strains have been completed by the pharmaceutical industry but are, unfortunately, kept secret. Genome sequencing is not an aim in itself but a starting point for solving biological questions. In this respect, microbial genomics is still in its infancy. A more efficient exploration of the nucleic acid sequences rapidly accumulating in the databanks will require new experimental and bioinformatic tools. Still, genome sequencing has already fundamentally changed the manner in which research on microorganisms is conducted. This fact is illustrated by a recent article by Campbell et al.[ 1 Campbell E.A. Choi S.Y. Masure H.R. Mol. Microbiol. 1998; 27: 929-939 Crossref PubMed Scopus (118) Google Scholar ], who have used computer-assisted genomic analysis to identify a regulon involved in the development of natural competence in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Their work is a good example of how sequencing data can be exploited in a very straightforward way to gain biological insights that would otherwise have taken a long time to obtain by standard experimental approaches.