Evaluation of the current models for the evolution of bacterial DNA uptake signal sequences

Authored by D Chu, HC Lee, J Rowe

Date Published: 2006-01-07

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2005.05.024

Sponsors: Norwegian Research Council (NRF)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Pseudocode

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Current opinion considers two main hypotheses for the evolutionary origin of uptake signal sequences in bacteria: one model regards the uptake signal sequence (USS) as the result of biased gene conversion, whereas the second model views the USS as a molecular tag that evolved as an adaptation. In this article, we present various computational models that implement specific versions of those hypotheses. Those models show that the two hypothesis are not necessarily as opposed to each other as may appear at first glance. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tags

Agent-based modelling natural competence uptake signal sequence