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For a comprehensive review of the most interesting recent articles published in the biological sciences, visit Faculty of 1000 Biology, an online literature awareness tool published by BioMed Central. Faculty of 1000 Biology systematically highlights exciting recent publications on the basis of recommendations of a faculty of well over 1,000 of the world's leading researchers. |
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Keith Chater
John Innes Centre, United Kingdom
MICROBIOLOGY
 Hypothesis
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Genome-based predictions of an organism's metabolism, when done thoroughly as in this case, provide an extra dimension for understanding many aspects of the organism's physiology. This is especially important in the case of streptomycetes, not only because they are the most important producers of antibiotics, and therefore targets for metabolic engineering, but also because their developmental complexity implies major developmentally controlled changes in cellular metabolism. The 971 reactions in the model in this study involve 711 of the 7825 annotated genes of S. coelicolor, and a wealth of information is included in the supplemental tables.
Evaluated 15 Jun 2005 |
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C. Graham Clark
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
MICROBIOLOGY
 New Finding
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The authors report a dramatic difference in the representation of different types of transposable elements among species of the genus Entamoeba. While the genomes of the sibling species E. histolytica and E. dispar contain numerous retrotransposon-like elements (making up ca 5% of the genome), those of E. moshkovskii and E. invadens contain very few; in contrast, the latter two species have many DNA transposons belonging to several families (making up ca. 5% of their genomes), while E. histolytica and E. dispar have very few. The underlying reasons for this apparent replacement of DNA transposons by retrotransposons since the divergence of E. histolytica/E. dispar from the other Entamoeba species remains to be explained.
Evaluated 20 Jun 2005 |
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 Must Read
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F1000 Factor 6.0 |
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The Pattern of Polymorphism in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Nordborg M, Hu TT, Ishino Y, Jhaveri J, Toomajian C, Zheng H, Bakker E, Calabrese P, Gladstone J, Goyal R, Jakobsson M, Kim S, Morozov Y, Padhukasahasram B, Plagnol V, Rosenberg NA, Shah C, Wall JD, Wang J, Zhao K, Kalbfleisch T, Schulz V, Kreitman M, Bergelson J
PLoS Biol 2005 May 24 3(7):e196 [abstract on PubMed] [FREE full text] 
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Selected by | Julin Maloof
Evaluated 7 Jun 2005
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Julin Maloof
University of California, Davis, United States of America
PLANT BIOLOGY
 Confirmation
New Finding
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Through a large survey of genomic sequence, Nordborg and colleagues examine the empirical distribution of population genetics parameters in Arabidopsis. Importantly, the empirical distributions do not fit that predicted by neutral models, meaning that standard tests of selection should not be used in Arabidopsis. The measured distribution could not be explained by recent population expansion, suggesting that a combination of historical factors may have shaped the current pattern of polymorphism. This work also confirms and extends the findings by Sharbel et al. {1}, by showing that Arabidopsis accessions exhibit isolation by distance and show evidence of population structure. In addition, it refines estimates of linkage disequilibrium, examines patterns of polymorphism across the genome, and more. {1} Sharbel et al. Mol Ecol 2000, 9:2109-18 [PMID:11123622]. See also comments on Schmid et al. Genetics 2005, 169:1601-15 [PMID:15654111].
Evaluated 7 Jun 2005 |
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Philip Benfey
Duke University, United States of America
PLANT BIOLOGY
New Finding
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This paper uses genomics approaches to address important questions related to the function of microRNAs. It defines in precise ways the base-pairing required for microRNA/target interactions in Arabidopsis and contrasts these with the requirements in animal systems.
Evaluated 9 Jun 2005 |
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Douglas Erwin
National Museum of Natural History, United States of America
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
Hypothesis
New Finding
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Gene duplication is believed to be a powerful driver of evolution, and here Wagner presents one of the first studies of the energetic costs and selective effects of gene duplications. Wagner studied the energetics of gene expression in S. cerevisiae and shows that there is a significant selective cost to gene duplication and that duplications cannot be preserved by drift. Wagner notes that these results apply only to microbes, and he suggests that the energetic costs of gene duplication in higher organisms may be relatively insignificant, and even that new regulatory genes may become fixed relatively quickly.
Evaluated 15 Jun 2005 |
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