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Primer on Microbial Genomics cont'd
Fun Facts
- Most microbes do not cause disease.
- Microbes first appeared on earth about 3.8 billion years ago.
They are critically important in sustaining life on our planet.
- Microbes make up most living matter and display tremendous diversity,
yet less than 1% have been cultured (grown in the laboratory) and studied.
- Microbes drive the chemistry of life and affect the global climate.
- Microbial cycling of such critical chemical elements as carbon and
nitrogen helps keep the world inhabitable for all life forms.
- Microbes generate at least half the oxygen we breathe.
- Microbes offer unusual capabilities reflecting the diversity of their
environmental niches. These may prove to be useful as a source
of new genes and organisms of value in addressing bioremediation, global
change, biotechnology, and energy production.
- Microbial studies will help us define the entire repertoire of organisms
in specialized niches and, ultimately, the mechanisms by which they
interact in the biosphere.
- Diversity patterns of microorganisms can be used for monitoring and
predicting environmental change.
- Microbes are roots of life's family tree. An understanding of
their genomes will help us understand how more complex genomes developed.
- Microbial genomes are modest in size and relatively easy to study
(usually no more than 10 million DNA bases, compared with some 3 billion
in the human or mouse genomes).
- Microbial communities are excellent models for understanding biological
interactions and evolution.
Next: Featured Microbes
Text from Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy,
Microbial Genome
Program Report, 2000.
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