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Microbial genomes opened up

Nature volume 392, pages 339–342 (1998)Cite this article

The complete genome sequences of a dozen bacteria, and a yeast, provide a wealth of information for tracing evolutionary networks. Here is a brief guide to what has and can be learned.

It is less than three years ago that the first complete sequence of a bacterial genome was reported1. Now we have a dozen1,12, and that of a eukaryote13 (the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae), with a certainty of many more to follow (Table 1).

Table 1 Some completely sequenced genomes
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Figure 1: The three-kingdom world — a phylogenetic tree based on sequences of ribosomal RNA from the 12 prokaryotes and one eukaryote described in Table 1.
Figure 2: Open and unidentified reading frames (ORFs and URFs) in 12 completely sequenced bacterial genomes.

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  1. the Center for Molecular Genetics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0634, California, USA

    Russell F. Doolittle

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  1. Russell F. Doolittle
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Doolittle, R. Microbial genomes opened up. Nature 392, 339–342 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/32789

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