Transcriptome Complexity in a Genome-Reduced Bacterium

摘要: To study basic principles of transcriptome organization in bacteria, we analyzed one the smallest self-replicating organisms, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. We combined strand-specific tiling arrays, complemented by sequencing, with more than 252 spotted arrays. detected 117 previously undescribed, mostly noncoding transcripts, 89 them antisense configuration to known genes. identified 341 operons, which 139 are polycistronic; almost half latter show decaying expression a staircase-like manner. Under various conditions, operons could be divided into 447 smaller transcriptional units, resulting many alternative transcripts. Frequent and multiple regulators per gene imply highly dynamic transcriptome, similar that eukaryotes thought.