2006/01/03 by John I. Glass, Nacyra Assad-Garcia, Nina Alperovich +6 · 10 citations
Immunology and Microbiology · Environmental Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Microbial infections and disease research #Bacteriophages and microbial interactions #Plant Virus Research Studies
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.0510013103
openalex publication_date 2006/01/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Mycoplasma genitalium has the smallest genome of any organism that can be grown in pure culture. It has a minimal metabolism and little genomic redundancy. Consequently, its genome is expected to be a close approximation to the minimal set of genes needed to sustain bacterial life. Using global transposon mutagenesis, we isolated and characterized gene disruption mutants for 100 different nonessential protein-coding genes. None of the 43 RNA-coding genes were disrupted. Herein, we identify 382 of the 482 M. genitalium protein-coding genes as essential, plus five sets of disrupted genes that encode proteins with potentially redundant essential functions, such as phosphate transport. Genes encoding proteins of unknown function constitute 28% of the essential protein-coding genes set. Disruption of some genes accelerated M. genitalium growth.