Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Extended contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Editors and contributors
- A computational micro primer
- PART I Genomes
- PART II Gene Transcription and Regulation
- PART III Evolution
- 9 Genome rearrangements
- 10 Comparison of phylogenetic trees and search for a central trend in the “Forest of Life”
- 11 Reconstructing the history of large-scale genomic changes: biological questions and computational challenges
- PART IV Phylogeny
- PART V Regulatory Networks
- REFERENCES
- Glossary
- Index
9 - Genome rearrangements
from PART III - Evolution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Extended contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Editors and contributors
- A computational micro primer
- PART I Genomes
- PART II Gene Transcription and Regulation
- PART III Evolution
- 9 Genome rearrangements
- 10 Comparison of phylogenetic trees and search for a central trend in the “Forest of Life”
- 11 Reconstructing the history of large-scale genomic changes: biological questions and computational challenges
- PART IV Phylogeny
- PART V Regulatory Networks
- REFERENCES
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
Genome rearrangements are one of the driving forces of evolution, and they are key events in the development of many diseases. In this chapter, we focus on a selection of topics that will provide undergraduate students in bioinformatics with an introduction to some of the key aspects of genome rearrangements and the algorithms that have been developed for their analysis. We do not attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of the history or the results in this field. Our presentation is in many parts inspired by the textbook An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms by Neil Jones and Pavel Pevzner [1], by lectures from Anne Bergeron [2] and Julia Mixtacki [3], and by several reviews of genome rearrangements and the associated combinatorial and algorithmic topics [4–7]. We will begin with a brief review of the basic biology related to this topic.
Review of basic biology
The genome of an organism encodes the blueprint for its proteins and ultimately determines that organism's developmental and metabolic fate. Genetic information is stored in double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules. Each individual DNA strand is a long sequence of the nucleotides adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine, which are commonly referred to using the letters A, C, G, and T. In each strand, the fifth carbon atom of each ribose molecule in the sugar–phosphate backbone is attached to the third carbon atom of the next ribose molecule (Figure 9.1a).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Bioinformatics for Biologists , pp. 167 - 188Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011