Abstract
The minimal gene set for life has often been theorized, with at least ten produced for Mycoplasma genitalium (M. genitalium). Due to the difficulty of using M. genitalium in the lab, combined with its long replication time of 12–15 h, none of these theoretical minimal genomes have been tested, even with modern techniques. The publication of the M. genitalium whole-cell model provided the first opportunity to test them, simulating the genome edits in silico. We simulated minimal gene sets from the literature, finding that they produced in silico cells that did not divide. Using knowledge from previous research, we reintroduced specific essential and low essential genes in silico; enabling cellular division. This reinforces the need to identify species-specific low essential genes and their interactions. Any genome designs created using the currently incomplete and fragmented gene essentiality information will very likely require in vivo reintroductions to correct issues and produce dividing cells.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1598-1604 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Genome Biology |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 7 |
Early online date | 10 Jun 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 16 Jul 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
Research Groups and Themes
- Bristol BioDesign Institute
- BrisSynBio
Keywords
- synthetic biology
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Testing Theoretical Minimal Genomes Using Whole-Cell Models'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Student theses
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Minimal Genome Design and Engineering: Algorithms and whole-cell Models
Rees-Garbutt, J. P. (Author), Marucci, L. (Supervisor) & Grierson, C. (Supervisor), 26 Nov 2020Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Using and improving whole-cell models to investigate bacterial minimal genomes
Rightmyer, J. (Author), Grierson, C. (Supervisor) & Marucci, L. (Supervisor), 28 Sept 2021Student thesis: Master's Thesis › Master of Science by Research (MScR)
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Datasets
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Data from minimal gene set whole-cell modelling
Marucci, L. (Creator), Grierson, C. (Creator), Chalkley, O. (Creator), Rees, J. (Creator) & Rightmyer, J. (Creator), University of Bristol, 30 Apr 2021
DOI: 10.5523/bris.356boayld729v2snyncfoltt0w, http://data.bris.ac.uk/data/dataset/356boayld729v2snyncfoltt0w
Dataset
Equipment
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HPC (High Performance Computing) and HTC (High Throughput Computing) Facilities
Alam, S. R. (Manager), Williams, D. A. G. (Manager), Eccleston, P. E. (Manager) & Greene, D. (Manager)
Facility/equipment: Facility