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Please understand that I am not a biologist, but a computer technologist. That having been said, the fields in question are called bioinformatics and comparitive genomics. They are relatively new fields of study, only recently made possible from advances in computerization.

Good websites to start reading about bioinformatics are the Washington University (St Louis Missouri) School of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center and Baylor College of Medicine (Houston Texas) Human Genome Sequencing Center. Both sites have pages documenting research projects on microbial genomes, as well as those of macroscopic creatures ranging from the humble fruit fly to the well known Human Genome Project. I honestly admit much of what is written on these pages is largely beyond my level of biological understanding. However, it is my understanding that microbial genomes, as some of the smallest and easiest to work with, have been studied the longest. For comparison, to fully sequence a mammalian genome still takes several years and is a complex undertaking, whereas viral genomes can be sequenced in a day. These websites deal mostly with getting the DNA sequences into computer readable formats, but from these pages are links to other research projects and educational institutions doing this type of research. For general reading just type "bacterial genome" or "comparitive genomics" or "bioinformatics" or "molecular genetics" into a search engine and start clicking.