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

微生物（即细菌）在生命的各个方面发挥着核心作用，包括有机物质的回收、固氮、光合作用、废物分解以及人类健康和疾病。因此，明确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。虽然培养的“细菌”目前被分为大约25个主要类群，但这些类群中的大多数都没有独特的分子、生化或生理特征。因此，确定不同细菌群的独特特征是非常重要的。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)蛋白质序列中的保守插入或缺失（indels）和（ii）针对不同细菌谱系的全蛋白质。这些标记除了为鉴定不同细菌群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。这项建议将在若干重要方面扩展我们以前广泛的工作。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: