[Rokurota]

Ha!Ha!

My genome is bigger than yours!

[martin_fierro]

Pelagibacter feeds off dead organic matter that is dissolved in ocean water - lead researcher Stephen Giovannoni of Oregon State University likens it to a very thin chicken soup.

"Waiter, there's something dead in my soup. May I have some more?"

[BipolarBob]

I've been trying to lose a little weight and have blamed it on my genes. I think I have too many genes to fit into my jeans. I hope this research pays off and I can shed a few genes.

[Paleo Conservative]

[silverleaf]

But Pelagibacter on the other hand, accounting for a quarter of all organisms in the ocean, is a shining example of Darwin's principle, the survival of the fittest.

Well, I was enjoying the article until the last sentence. Darwin must be sitting at the Right Hand of God as reward for all that hard work of explaining the design.

[Red Badger]

It ain't easy bein' gene.......

[starfish923]

There are no duplicate gene copies, no viral genes, and no junk DNA.

No duplicates = no redundancy, that is, no back up system.
I know many humans like this.

[Right Wing Professor]

Here's the genome map if anyone wants to browse. Click anywhere to zoom in; the colored boxes are genes; several contiguous boxes of the same color denote a single RNA transcript; the arrows are the direction of transcription; click on the box to find out what we think the gene codes for.

[Servant of the 9]

What is more, Pelagibacter has none of the genetic clutter that most genomes have accumulated over time.

There are no duplicate gene copies, no viral genes, and no junk DNA.

If every creature was this elegantly put together, there might, might, be a case for Inteligent Design.

As things are, there isn't.

So9

[contemplator]

entrepreneur Craig Venter is trying to create an artificial version of a bacterium, aiming for as few as 300 genes.

Cue the Dr. Frankenstein voice saying "It's alive!"

[trubluolyguy]

Am I the only one that ever wonders WHY we need this information?

[AdmSmith]

What is more, Pelagibacter has none of the genetic clutter that most genomes have accumulated over time. There are no duplicate gene copies, no viral genes, and no junk DNA.

Very few bacteria have "junk" DNA or viral genes or duplicate gene copies (probably due to selection pressure), so that is no surprise. "Junk" DNA are of various types and we probably have to live with the use of this term for a long time, even in Science http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol309/issue5738/twis.shtml .

I wonder when this record (1,354 genes)will be broken; next year?

[Old Professer]

I ain't listening to no peg-legged bacterium.

[LiteKeeper]

YEC INTREP