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Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, September 2004, p. 518-537, Vol. 68, No. 3
1092-2172/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MMBR.68.3.518-537.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Determination of the Core of a Minimal Bacterial Gene Set{dagger}

Rosario Gil,1,2* Francisco J. Silva,1,2 Juli Peretó,1,3 and Andrés Moya1,2

Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Valencia,1 Departament de Genètica,2 Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular Universitat de València, Burjassot (València), Spain3

The availability of a large number of complete genome sequences raises the question of how many genes are essential for cellular life. Trying to reconstruct the core of the protein-coding gene set for a hypothetical minimal bacterial cell, we have performed a computational comparative analysis of eight bacterial genomes. Six of the analyzed genomes are very small due to a dramatic genome size reduction process, while the other two, corresponding to free-living relatives, are larger. The available data from several systematic experimental approaches to define all the essential genes in some completely sequenced bacterial genomes were also considered, and a reconstruction of a minimal metabolic machinery necessary to sustain life was carried out. The proposed minimal genome contains 206 protein-coding genes with all the genetic information necessary for self-maintenance and reproduction in the presence of a full complement of essential nutrients and in the absence of environmental stress. The main features of such a minimal gene set, as well as the metabolic functions that must be present in the hypothetical minimal cell, are discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Apartat Oficial 2085, 46071 València, Spain. Phone: 34 96 354 36 29. Fax: 34 96 354 36 70. E-mail: rosario.gil{at}uv.es.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://mmbr.asm.org.

Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, September 2004, p. 518-537, Vol. 68, No. 3
1092-2172/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MMBR.68.3.518-537.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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