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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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Last modified: Friday, September 23, 2005

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