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MBE Advance Access published online on September 11, 2006
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msl115
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Accepted September 1, 2006

Research Article

Gene Gain and Gene Loss in Streptococcus: Is it Driven by Habitat?

Pradeep Reddy Marri 1 1, Weilong Hao 1 1, and G. Brian Golding 1 *

1 Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
G. Brian Golding, E-mail: Golding{at}McMaster.CA


  Abstract

Bacterial genomes can evolve either by gene gain, gene loss, mutating existing genes and/or by duplication of existing genes. Recent studies have clearly demonstrated that the acquisition of new genes by Lateral Gene Transfer (LGT) is a predominant force in bacterial evolution. To better understand the significance of LGT we employed a comparative genomics approach to model species specific and intra-species gene insertions/deletions among twelve sequenced Streptococcal genomes using a maximum likelihood method. This study indicates that the rate of gene insertions/deletions is higher on the external branches and varies dramatically for each species. We have analyzed here some of the experimentally characterized species specific genes that have been acquired by LGT and conclude that at least a portion of these genes have a role in adaptation.

Keywords: Streptococcus; Maximum Likelihood Analysis; Adaptation; Lateral Gene Transfer; Phylogeny.

1Both authors contributed equally to this work


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