J. Glass et al., "Essential genes of a minimal bacterium," Proc Natl Acad Sci, 103:425-30, 2006. (Cited in 65 papers)
To identify the essential genes of Mycoplasma genitalium, the smallest free-living bacterium, John Glass and collaborators at the J. Craig Venter Institute used global transposon mutagenesis to disrupt individual genes. 382 out of 482 genes were found essential for the bacterial cells to function normally, which is greater than the 265-350 suggested from a previous study.
Pinning down what's essential in this organism will help researchers build synthetic bacteria, says Glass. These organisms might one day produce biofuels, clean up pollution, or function as living diagnostic tools.
Earlier this year, the Venter team announced that it had synthesized and assembled a complete M. genitalium genome - the largest synthetic DNA structure. They have also identified at least 11 more M. genitalium genes that are not essential to normal function. "We'll ...
