Recent Advances in the Expression, Evolution, and Dynamics of Prokaryotic Genomes

Abstract

Work on the molecular and cellular biology of prokaryotic microorganisms and their phage continues to be at the cutting edge in many areas of fundamental research in the life sciences. An important stimulus has been the large number of complete bacterial and archaeal genome sequences that have appeared over the past decade and that now are being produced at a rate of several hundred per year. This information is the foundation for all of the “-omics” leading to a global evaluation of the state of the cell under various conditions of growth or stress. An overview of the sequenced prokaryotic genomes has also greatly influenced our thinking about the evolution of life on earth. The EMBO Conference on Molecular Microbiology was the third in a series of meetings aimed at bolstering interest and support for fundamental research on prokaryotes (EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany, 19 to 23 October 2006). More than 140 participants from around the world contributed to an intensive 4-day series of talks and poster sessions. The topics included noncoding regulatory RNA in bacteria, introduced for the first time at this meeting, as well as pathogenicity, evolution, signal transduction, and chromosome dynamics. With about 60 talks and 70 poster presentations, nearly of all of the participants contributed to the scientific discussion, generating many lively exchanges. The only significant complaint about the organization of the meeting was that some participants felt that there was not enough time to visit the historic old city of Heidelberg. One interesting comment from several participants was that they very much enjoyed attending a relatively broad-based meeting allowing them to learn about recent developments in areas with potential connections to their own research, an opportunity lacking in more highly specialized meetings. In this review, we highlight the talks, mention some of the discussion that they generated, and cite a selection of recent research articles and reviews by the speakers.