Identification and Characterization of Novel Molecular Markers for the Proteobacteria (Beta and Gamma) and Firmicutes Phyla

微生物(即细菌)在生活的各个方面都发挥着核心作用，包括有机物质的循环利用、固氮、光合作用、废物分解以及对人类健康和疾病的影响。因此，清楚地区分不同的微生物群并确定它们具有哪些独特的性质是非常重要的。虽然目前培养的“细菌”大约分为25个主要类群，但大多数这些类群的独特分子、生化或生理特性尚不清楚。因此，确定不同细菌群体特有的特征是非常重要的。利用基因组序列，我的团队率先发现了两种类型的分子标记(I)蛋白质序列中保守的插入或缺失(Indels)和(Ii)针对不同细菌谱系的完整蛋白质。这些标记除了为鉴定不同种类的细菌提供高度特异性的手段外，还为遗传和生化研究提供了有价值的探针。这项提议将在许多重要方面扩展我们先前广泛的工作。我们的主要目标是：

Microorganisms (i.e. bacteria) play a central role in all aspects of life including recycling of organic materials, nitrogen fixation, photosynthesis, waste decomposition, and in human health and diseases. Therefore, it is of much importance to clearly distinguish different groups of microbes and determine what unique properties they possess. Although the cultured "Bacteria" are presently divided into about 25 main groups, for most of these groups no unique molecular, biochemical or physiological characteristics are known. Hence, it is of much importance to identify characteristics that are unique to different groups of bacteria. Using genome sequences, my group has pioneered the discovery of two types of molecular markers (i) conserved inserts or deletions (indels) in protein sequences and (ii) whole proteins that are specific for different bacterial lineages. These markers in addition to providing highly specific means for identification of different groups of bacteria also provide valuable probes for genetic and biochemical studies. This proposal will extend our extensive earlier work in a number of important ways. Our main objectives are: