Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS General Science Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (31) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· Reads History
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
The Bacterial Species Challenge: Making Sense of Genetic and Ecological Diversity
Authors:
Fraser, Christophe; Alm, Eric J.; Polz, Martin F.; Spratt, Brian G.; Hanage, William P.
Affiliation:
AA(Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK.), AB(Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.; Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.), AC(Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.), AD(Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK.), AE(Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK.)
Publication:
Science, Volume 323, Issue 5915, pp. 741- (2009). (Sci Homepage)
Publication Date:
02/2009
Origin:
SCIENCE
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2009: Science
DOI:
10.1126/science.1159388
Bibliographic Code:
2009Sci...323..741F

Abstract

The Bacteria and Archaea are the most genetically diverse superkingdoms of life, and techniques for exploring that diversity are only just becoming widespread. Taxonomists classify these organisms into species in much the same way as they classify eukaryotes, but differences in their biology---including horizontal gene transfer between distantly related taxa and variable rates of homologous recombination---mean that we still do not understand what a bacterial species is. This is not merely a semantic question; evolutionary theory should be able to explain why species exist at all levels of the tree of life, and we need to be able to define species for practical applications in industry, agriculture, and medicine. Recent studies have emphasized the need to combine genetic diversity and distinct ecology in an attempt to define species in a coherent and convincing fashion. The resulting data may help to discriminate among the many theories of prokaryotic species that have been produced to date.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
  New!

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints