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Biodiversity

Microbial genomes multiply

Nature volume 416, pages 697–700 (2002)Cite this article

It is seven years since the first bacterial genome was completely sequenced, and more than 60 others have now been determined. What has been the impact of these projects on pure science and public welfare?

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Figure 1: Number of genes (ORFs) plotted against genome size for 44 fully sequenced genomes, including ten Archaea (squares) and 34 Bacteria.
Figure 2: Many routes to intracellular adaptation.

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

    Russell F. Doolittle

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  1. Russell F. Doolittle
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Correspondence to Russell F. Doolittle.

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Doolittle, R. Microbial genomes multiply. Nature 416, 697–700 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/416697a

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