Genome Watch in 2011

This month's Genome Watch highlights new perspectives on polygenic adaptation and its consequences for fitness in microbial populations.

This month's Genome Watch reviews a series of recent papers describing horizontal gene transfer from microorganisms to nematodes.

This month's Genome Watch discusses the genome of the free-living amoeboflagellate protistNaegleria gruberi.

Genome Watch describes a new technique for DNA amplification from a single cell.

This month's Genome Watch discusses the methods and implications of recent rapid sequence analyses of outbreak strains ofEscherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae.

This month's Genome Watch describes how the large size of the mimiviral genome is a result of the sympatric lifestyle of mimivirus in host amoebae.

Single-cell genomics, in which individual cells are isolated from environmental samples and their genomic DNA is sequenced, is increasingly used to characterize uncultivated microorganisms.

High-throughput sequencing technologies are being used to complement phenotypic screens, thereby greatly improving the power of these techniques.

Bacterially derived enzymes that can degrade lignocellulose from plant biomass may help the production of biofuels.

This month's Genome Watch looks at how recombination has providedStreptococcus pneumoniaewith the adaptability to overcome antibiotic and immune challenges.