Microbial Evolution

Microbial Evolution
Author: Howard Ochman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781621820376

Bacteria have been the dominant forms of life on Earth for the past 3.5 billion years. They rapidly evolve, constantly changing their genetic architecture through horizontal DNA transfer and other mechanisms. Consequently, it can be difficult to define individual species and determine how they are related. Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology examines how bacteria and other microbes evolve, focusing on insights from genomics-based studies. Contributors discuss the origins of new microbial populations, the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that keep species separate once they have diverged, and the challenges of constructing phylogenetic trees that accurately reflect their relationships. They describe the organization of microbial genomes, the various mutations that occur, including the birth of new genes de novo and by duplication, and how natural selection acts on those changes. The role of horizontal gene transfer as a strong driver of microbial evolution is emphasized throughout. The authors also explore the geologic evidence for early microbial evolution and describe the use of microbial evolution experiments to examine phenomena like natural selection. This volume will thus be essential reading for all microbial ecologists, population geneticists, and evolutionary biologists.

The Logic of Chance

The Logic of Chance
Author: Eugene V. Koonin
Publisher: FT Press
Total Pages: 530
Release: 2011-06-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 013262317X

The Logic of Chance offers a reappraisal and a new synthesis of theories, concepts, and hypotheses on the key aspects of the evolution of life on earth in light of comparative genomics and systems biology. The author presents many specific examples from systems and comparative genomic analysis to begin to build a new, much more detailed, complex, and realistic picture of evolution. The book examines a broad range of topics in evolutionary biology including the inadequacy of natural selection and adaptation as the only or even the main mode of evolution; the key role of horizontal gene transfer in evolution and the consequent overhaul of the Tree of Life concept; the central, underappreciated evolutionary importance of viruses; the origin of eukaryotes as a result of endosymbiosis; the concomitant origin of cells and viruses on the primordial earth; universal dependences between genomic and molecular-phenomic variables; and the evolving landscape of constraints that shape the evolution of genomes and molecular phenomes. "Koonin's account of viral and pre-eukaryotic evolution is undoubtedly up-to-date. His "mega views" of evolution (given what was said above) and his cosmological musings, on the other hand, are interesting reading." Summing Up: Recommended Reprinted with permission from CHOICE, copyright by the American Library Association.

The Pangenome

The Pangenome
Author: Hervé Tettelin
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2020-04-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030382818

This open access book offers the first comprehensive account of the pan-genome concept and its manifold implications. The realization that the genetic repertoire of a biological species always encompasses more than the genome of each individual is one of the earliest examples of big data in biology that opened biology to the unbounded. The study of genetic variation observed within a species challenges existing views and has profound consequences for our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underpinning bacterial biology and evolution. The underlying rationale extends well beyond the initial prokaryotic focus to all kingdoms of life and evolves into similar concepts for metagenomes, phenomes and epigenomes. The book’s respective chapters address a range of topics, from the serendipitous emergence of the pan-genome concept and its impacts on the fields of microbiology, vaccinology and antimicrobial resistance, to the study of microbial communities, bioinformatic applications and mathematical models that tie in with complex systems and economic theory. Given its scope, the book will appeal to a broad readership interested in population dynamics, evolutionary biology and genomics.

Genomics and Evolution of Microbial Eukaryotes

Genomics and Evolution of Microbial Eukaryotes
Author: Laura A Katz
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2006-09-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0191513857

Genomics and Evolution of Eukaryotic Microbes synthesizes the rapidly emerging fields of eukaryotic diversity and genome evolution. Eukaryotes (cells with nuclei) evolved as microbes and have existed on Earth for approximately two billion years. The tremendous diversity of eukaryotic microbes (protists) is often overlooked by those who study the macroscopic eukaryotic lineages: plants, animals, and fungi. Yet, eukaryotic microbes are of critical importance to ecosystems, human health, and our desire to understand biodiversity on Earth. By bringing together groundbreaking data from genome studies of diverse eukaryotic microbes, this book elucidates the many novelties among eukaryotic genomes and provides a single resource for otherwise widely dispersed information. Eukaryotic microorganisms impact both our health and our environment. These organisms include some of the deadliest known pathogens such as Plasmodium falciparum, a causative agent of malaria, and Entamoeba histolytica an agent of dysentery. Eukaryotic microbes also play a significant role in environments through their involvement in global biogeochemical cycles. Such roles are perhaps best exemplified by the coccolithophores, including the species Emiliania huxleyi, which can create 'blooms' in the oceans that are visible from outer space (i.e. as large as the state of Alaska). Despite the great importance and breadth of eukaryotic microbes (the vast majority of major ukaryotic lineages are microbial, with plants, animals and fungi representing just three of an estimated 60-200 major lineages), our understanding of their diversity and phylogeny is only now rapidly expanding, in part bolstered by genomic studies. This book presents analyses and interpretations from experts in the field. Recent advances, particularly in DNA sequencing technologies, have made eukaryotic microbes more accessible to genome analyses. Unravelling the wealth of information on eukaryotic genomes will invariably revolutionize our understanding of eukaryotes, including their physiology, systematics, and ecology.

Prokaryotic Cytoskeletons

Prokaryotic Cytoskeletons
Author: Jan Löwe
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2017-05-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 331953047X

This book describes the structures and functions of active protein filaments, found in bacteria and archaea, and now known to perform crucial roles in cell division and intra-cellular motility, as well as being essential for controlling cell shape and growth. These roles are possible because the cytoskeletal and cytomotive filaments provide long range order from small subunits. Studies of these filaments are therefore of central importance to understanding prokaryotic cell biology. The wide variation in subunit and polymer structure and its relationship with the range of functions also provide important insights into cell evolution, including the emergence of eukaryotic cells. Individual chapters, written by leading researchers, review the great advances made in the past 20-25 years, and still ongoing, to discover the architectures, dynamics and roles of filaments found in relevant model organisms. Others describe one of the families of dynamic filaments found in many species. The most common types of filament are deeply related to eukaryotic cytoskeletal proteins, notably actin and tubulin that polymerise and depolymerise under the control of nucleotide hydrolysis. Related systems are found to perform a variety of roles, depending on the organisms. Surprisingly, prokaryotes all lack the molecular motors associated with eukaryotic F-actin and microtubules. Archaea, but not bacteria, also have active filaments related to the eukaryotic ESCRT system. Non-dynamic fibres, including intermediate filament-like structures, are known to occur in some bacteria.. Details of known filament structures are discussed and related to what has been established about their molecular mechanisms, including current controversies. The final chapter covers the use of some of these dynamic filaments in Systems Biology research. The level of information in all chapters is suitable both for active researchers and for advanced students in courses involving bacterial or archaeal physiology, molecular microbiology, structural cell biology, molecular motility or evolution. Chapter 3 of this book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

The New Science of Metagenomics

The New Science of Metagenomics
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2007-06-24
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309106761

Although we can't usually see them, microbes are essential for every part of human life-indeed all life on Earth. The emerging field of metagenomics offers a new way of exploring the microbial world that will transform modern microbiology and lead to practical applications in medicine, agriculture, alternative energy, environmental remediation, and many others areas. Metagenomics allows researchers to look at the genomes of all of the microbes in an environment at once, providing a "meta" view of the whole microbial community and the complex interactions within it. It's a quantum leap beyond traditional research techniques that rely on studying-one at a time-the few microbes that can be grown in the laboratory. At the request of the National Science Foundation, five Institutes of the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy, the National Research Council organized a committee to address the current state of metagenomics and identify obstacles current researchers are facing in order to determine how to best support the field and encourage its success. The New Science of Metagenomics recommends the establishment of a "Global Metagenomics Initiative" comprising a small number of large-scale metagenomics projects as well as many medium- and small-scale projects to advance the technology and develop the standard practices needed to advance the field. The report also addresses database needs, methodological challenges, and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in supporting this new field.

In the Light of Evolution

In the Light of Evolution
Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher:
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2007
Genre: Science
ISBN:

The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.

Introduction to Evolutionary Genomics

Introduction to Evolutionary Genomics
Author: Naruya Saitou
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2014-01-22
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1447153049

This book is the first of its kind to explain the fundamentals of evolutionary genomics. The comprehensive coverage includes concise descriptions of a variety of genome organizations, a thorough discussion of the methods used, and a detailed review of genome sequence processing procedures. The opening chapters also provide the necessary basics for readers unfamiliar with evolutionary studies. Features: introduces the basics of molecular biology, DNA replication, mutation, phylogeny, neutral evolution, and natural selection; presents a brief evolutionary history of life from the primordial seas to the emergence of humans; describes the genomes of prokaryotes, eukaryotes, vertebrates, and humans; reviews methods for genome sequencing, phenotype data collection, homology searches and analysis, and phylogenetic tree and network building; discusses databases of genome sequences and related information, evolutionary distances, and population genomics; provides supplementary material at an associated website.

Microbial Functional Genomics

Microbial Functional Genomics
Author: Jizhong Zhou
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 624
Release: 2004-03-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780471071907

Microbial Functional Genomics offers a timely summary of the principles, approaches, and applications. It presents a comprehensive review of microbial functional genomics, covering microbial diversity, microbial genome sequencing, genomic technologies, genome-wide functional analysis, applied functional genomics, and future directions. An introduction will offer a definition of the field and an overview of the historical and comparative genomics aspects.

Computing for Comparative Microbial Genomics

Computing for Comparative Microbial Genomics
Author: David Wayne Ussery
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2009-02-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1848002548

Overview and Goals This book describes how to visualize and compare bacterial genomes. Sequencing technologies are becoming so inexpensive that soon going for a cup of coffee will be more expensive than sequencing a bacterial genome. Thus, there is a very real and pressing need for high-throughput computational methods to compare hundreds and thousands of bacterial genomes. It is a long road from molecular biology to systems biology, and in a sense this text can be thought of as a path bridging these ? elds. The goal of this book is to p- vide a coherent set of tools and a methodological framework for starting with raw DNA sequences and producing fully annotated genome sequences, and then using these to build up and test models about groups of interacting organisms within an environment or ecological niche. Organization and Features The text is divided into four main parts: Introduction, Comparative Genomics, Transcriptomics and Proteomics, and ? nally Microbial Communities. The ? rst ? ve chapters are introductions of various sorts. Each of these chapters represents an introduction to a speci? c scienti? c ? eld, to bring all readers up to the same basic level before proceeding on to the methods of comparing genomes. First, a brief overview of molecular biology and of the concept of sequences as biological inf- mation are given.