02356nas a2200265   4500008004100000245006200041210006200103300001000165490000700175520124200182653003001424653007301454653007501527653004901602653004201651653004301693653005001736653007501786653005801861100001901919700001601938700001501954700001501969856010601984       2003                        eng d00aComparing bacterial genomes through conservation profiles0 aComparing bacterial genomes through conservation profiles  a991-80 v133 aWe constructed two-dimensional representations of profiles of gene conservation across different genomes using the genome of Escherichia coli as a model. These profiles permit both the visualization at the genome level of different traits in the organism studied and, at the same time, reveal features related to the genomes analyzed (such as defective genomes or genomes that lack a particular system). Conserved genes are not uniformly distributed along the E. coli genome but tend to cluster together. The study of gene distribution patterns across genomes is important for the understanding of how sets of genes seem to be dependent on each other, probably having some functional link. This provides additional evidence that can be used for the elucidation of the function of unannotated genes. Clustering these patterns produces families of genes which can be arranged in a hierarchy of closeness. In this way, functions can be defined at different levels of generality depending on the level of the hierarchy that is studied. The combined study of conservation and phenotypic traits opens up the possibility of defining phenotype/genotype associations, and ultimately inferring the gene or genes responsible for a particular trait.10aBacterial Genotype Models10aBacterial/genetics Cluster Analysis Conserved Sequence/*genetics DNA10aBacterial/genetics Escherichia coli/classification/*genetics Evolution10aBacterial/genetics Gene Order/genetics Genes10aBacterial/genetics/physiology *Genome10aChromosome Mapping/methods Chromosomes10aGenetic Phenotype Phylogeny Sequence Homology10aMolecular Gene Expression Profiling/methods Gene Expression Regulation10aNucleic Acid Species Specificity Terminology as Topic1 aMartin, M., J.1 aHerrero, J.1 aMateos, A.1 aDopazo, J.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=12695324