Bacteria Are Smartphones and Mobile Genes Are Apps

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Bacterial core and accessory genome components are analogous to the operating system and applications of smartphones. The core genome provides stable taxonomy and species lists, but phenotypes reflect the mobile pool of accessory genes. This suggests changes to the ways we define bacterial species and describe bacterial communities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)931-932
Number of pages2
JournalTrends in microbiology
Volume24
Issue number12
Early online date24 Sept 2016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2016

Bibliographical note

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.

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