The microbial pan-genome

TL;DR: Evidence of HGT is found heavily in parasitic and pathogenic fungi; both of these lifestyles rely on phagocytosis and assimilation of host parts and pieces, suggesting phagcytosis is implicated in DNA uptake mechanisms.

TL;DR: From sample preparation to some of the analytical methods used to gain functional knowledge from sequence information are provided, from the lower costs of next-generation sequencing platforms, even small laboratories from around the world will be able to generate millions of base pairs of data.

TL;DR: This work examined the temporal dynamics of genes in five aquatic metagenome time‐series to find gene‐specific patterns of temporal allele variability that depended on the seasonal metacommunity size of carrier‐taxa and the variability of the milieu and the substrates to which the resulting proteins were exposed.

TL;DR: This research presents a novel and scalable approach called “Smart Genomics” that allows for real-time analysis of the response of the immune system to changes in DNA sequences over a long period of time.

TL;DR: Over 1.2 million previously unknown genes represented in these samples, including more than 782 new rhodopsin-like photoreceptors are identified, suggesting substantial oceanic microbial diversity.

TL;DR: The genomic sequence of six strains representing the five major disease-causing serotypes of Streptococcus agalactiae, the main cause of neonatal infection in humans, was generated and Mathematical extrapolation of the data suggests that the gene reservoir available for inclusion in the S. agalactic pan-genome is vast and that unique genes will continue to be identified even after sequencing hundreds of genomes.

TL;DR: Mobile elements within genomes have driven genome evolution in diverse ways and are becoming useful tools for learning more about genome evolution and gene function.

TL;DR: The current review presents the available genomics and biological data on prophages from bacterial pathogens in an evolutionary framework to demonstrate that the chromosomes from bacteria and their viruses (bacteriophages) are coevolving.