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Prokaryotes, Metagenomics, and GC-Content

Authors:
Erin (Cricket) Reichenberger
Gail Rosen
Uri Hershberg
Ruth Hershberg

Keywords: GC-Content; Prokaryotes; Metagenomics; Mutation; Genomic Variation; Big Data, Environmental Influence

Abstract:
The degree of variation in nucleotide content across all prokaryotic genomes is expansive and ranges from ∼15% to ∼75% guanine and cytosine (GC). There is an ongoing debate as to the causes of this extensive variation, however, since variation in nucleotide content is a genome-wide trait that affects the genome as a whole, it is highly interesting to understand what drives such variation. Employing 183 metagenomic datasets (959G) from numerous types of environments, a Unix environment pipeline of command-line bioinformatics tools, scripting languages, and statistical programs was employed to investigate the influence of environment on GC-content. Using several statistical approaches, we show that each type of environment has a distinct GC-signature that cannot be entirely explained by disparities in phylogenetic composition. Further, our results indicate that environment and phylogeny impact nucleotide composition.

Pages: 21 to 22

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2015

Publication date: May 24, 2015

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4383

ISBN: 978-1-61208-409-1

Location: Rome, Italy

Dates: from May 24, 2015 to May 29, 2015