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These papers were selected from multiple disciplines from the Faculty of 1000, a Web-based literature awareness tool http://www.facultyof1000.com.

S.G. Tringe et al., "Comparative metagenomics of microbial communities," Science, 308:554–7, April 22, 2005.

This important paper provides the first comparative analysis of both phylogenetic and functional diversity of entire microbial communities. The communities considered include those associated with farm soils, deep-sea whale carcasses, the Sargasso Sea, and an acid mine biofilm. A key finding is that microbial communities have distinctive profiles of encoded functions that are more similar within than between habitat types. Moreover, there are numerous genes whose functions are unknown, suggesting the existence of undiscovered functional systems.

- John JaenikeUniversity of Rochester, United States of America

T. Marquardt et al., "Coexpressed EphA receptors and ephrin-A ligands mediate opposing actions on growth cone navigation from distinct membrane domains," Cell, 121:127–39, April 8, 2005.

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