Genome streamlining in a cosmopolitan oceanic bacterium.

Science, 2005/8/19;309(5738):1242-5.

Giovannoni SJ[1], Tripp HJ, Givan S, Podar M, Vergin KL, Baptista D, Bibbs L, Eads J, Richardson TH, Noordewier M, Rappé MS, Short JM, Carrington JC, Mathur EJ

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PMID: 16109880

Impact factor: 63.714

Abstract
The SAR11 clade consists of very small, heterotrophic marine alpha-proteobacteria that are found throughout the oceans, where they account for about 25% of all microbial cells. Pelagibacter ubique, the first cultured member of this clade, has the smallest genome and encodes the smallest number of predicted open reading frames known for a free-living microorganism. In contrast to parasitic bacteria and archaea with small genomes, P. ubique has complete biosynthetic pathways for all 20 amino acids and all but a few cofactors. P. ubique has no pseudogenes, introns, transposons, extrachromosomal elements, or inteins; few paralogs; and the shortest intergenic spacers yet observed for any cell.
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