In the past, a great deal of bacterial classification has been based on phenotype, physiology, and comparisons between known species. But the genetic aspect of this classification has usually been limited to sequence data from 16S rRNA genes. Now, researchers are integrating information from genomic and proteomic work to clarify this bacterial classification.
“The powerful genomic tools now available provide the opportunity for a much more detailed and informative evaluation of the relationship between genetic and phenotypic similarity,” the researchers explained.
To do this, the team used genome sequence data generated by researchers from the US Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute for ten Shewanella strains. The researchers also employed mass spectrometry to get proteomic data for the same strains grown under different environmental conditions.
Read the rest of the story at GenomeWeb.