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Download or read book Novel Genetic Elements and Features of the Caulobacter Crescentus System written by Eduardo Abeliuk Acuna and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last decade remarkable technologies, such as high-density tiling arrays and high-throughput DNA sequencing have enabled whole-genome studies at an unprecedented scale and resolution. In this work I describe how we used these technologies to map novel genetic elements as well as regulatory features of the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus, a model species used for understanding the prokaryotic cell-cycle. I describe a dynamic programming algorithm I used to determine the location of 27 novel small RNA transcripts (sRNAs), several novel antisense RNA transcripts, as well as the accurate mapping of mRNA transcripts. Many of these predictions were validated biochemically. In addition, I describe how we coupled high-throughput transposon mutagenesis with statistical analysis to map all the essential genetic elements in the Caulobacter crescentus genome to 8 base-pair accuracy. We found that 480 out of the 3960 genes contained in Caulobacter's genome are essential for cell viability, as well as 3 out of the 27 novel sRNA that we had identified. Interestingly, there are 90 essential small intergenic DNA segments of unknown function. Finally, I describe the operon organization of Caulobacter's genome.