Fifth E. coli and Small Genomes Meeting, held October 12-15,1997 in Snowbird, Utah.

第五届大肠杆菌和小基因组会议将于1997年10月12日至15日在犹他州雪鸟会议中心举行。大肠杆菌基因组计划是最早启动的项目之一，今年完成时是迄今为止最大的基因组测序，几乎是正在研究的典型基因组的2.5倍，如流感嗜血杆菌，这是第一个完成的原核生物基因组。在过去的四十年里，对大肠杆菌进行了广泛的生理、生化和遗传分析，使其成为研究得最好的原核生物，也是所有其他生物可以比较的模型系统之一。更大的基因组本身就意味着有更广泛的功能可供分析，这保证了大肠杆菌将继续为原核和真核系统提供先例和范例。在接下来的几年里，人们对多达40个原核生物基因组的序列和内容进行比较的前景感到非常兴奋，而大肠杆菌有望在这一分析中占据突出地位。毫无疑问，微生物学不同方面的大量整合将会发生，包括关于进化和生命需求的新观点。为了实现这些目标，特别是整合和协同，来自不同学科的科学家必须相互作用。因此，本次会议将包括活跃的基因组研究人员，如测序专家和信息学专家在数据库设计，序列分析，或模拟；遗传学家开发利用基因组信息的新方法，例如用于功能分析；还有细胞生物学家和生物化学家，他们专门研究的领域现在已经成熟，比如代谢、染色体结构或基因调控。虽然最近已经召开了一些基因组会议，但新的基因组序列的不断完成和发布以及对这些大量信息进行分析的发展势头意味着社区仍然需要这样的会议。该会议已成为近5年来唯一的细菌基因组学年度定期会议，具有一定的地位和质量。

Weinstock 9724782 The Fifth E. coli and Small Genomes Conference is to be held October 12-15, 1997 at the conference center in Snowbird, Utah. The E. coli genome project was one of the first initiated and at its completion this year is the largest genome sequenced to date, nearly 2.5 times the size of typical genomes under study such as H. influenzae, the first prokaryotic genome to be completed. The extensive physiologic, biochemical, and genetic analysis of E. coli over the last four decades make this the best studied of prokaryotic organisms and one of the model systems to which all others are compared. The larger size of the genome in itself promises that there will be a wider range of functions to be analyzed, and this guarantees that E. coli will continue to provide precedent and paradigm for both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. There is great excitement over the prospect of comparing the sequences and contents of as many as 40 prokaryotic genomes over the next few years, and E. coli is expected to occupy a prominent place in this analysis. Considerable integration of different aspects of microbiology will undoubtedly take place, including new perspectives on evolution and the requirements for life. To achieve these goals, particularly of integration and synergy, scientists from diverse disciplines must interact. Thus this conference will include active genome researchers, such as sequencing experts and informatics specialists working in database design, sequence analysis, or simulation; geneticists developing new methods to take advantage of genomic information, e.g. for functional analysis; and cell biologists and biochemists who have specialized in areas now ripe for genomics such as metabolism, chromosome structure, or gene regulation. While there have been a number of recent genome conferences, continuing completion and release of new genome sequences and developing momentum for analysis of this huge amount of information means the community has continued need of such conferences. This meeting has become established as the only regular annual bacterial genomics conference during the last 5 years and has assured status and quality.