The Need for Change: Embracing the Genome

Publication date: Available online 13 November 2014 Source:Methods in Microbiology Author(s): William B. Whitman With the development of Next-Generation Sequencing techniques, genomic sequencing of prokaryotes has become inexpensive enough to become a routine tool in the research laboratory. For systematics, genome sequences will provide valuable insights into the phylogeny of prokaryotes and a wealth of information about their genealogy. By providing more reliable and complete data, it will allow the formation of more accurate groupings of taxa. As important, it will provide new understandings of the evolutionary processes within prokaryotes, such as the relative importance of horizontal gene transfer and other genetic processes, which can be included in the descriptions of each taxon. As more genomes become available for specific groups, it will be possible to use of Average Nucleotide Identity, Genome-to-Genome-Distance or MLSA values to define species boundaries and replace the imprecise and error prone wet laboratory determinations of DNA–DNA hybridizations. Thus, the genome sequence of the type strain will become the standard for characterization of novel taxa. Genome sequencing will also provide a wealth of information about individual species, far exceeding that which is obtainable by direct experimentation. This developing knowledge will provide an immensely richer understanding of prokaryotic life than we have today.
Source: Methods in Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research