From Gene Regulation to Gene Function Regulatory Networks in Bacillus subtilis.pdfVIP

Comparative and Functional Genomics Comp Funct Genom 2002; 3: 37–41. DOI: 10.1002 / cfg.138 Conference Review From gene regulation to gene function: regulatory networks in Bacillus subtilis 1 2 Colin R Harwood * and Ivan Moszer 1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK 2 Unite´ de Ge´ne´tique des Ge´nomes Bacte´riens, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France *Correspondence to: Abstract Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Medical School, Bacillus subtilis is a sporulating Gram-positive bacterium that lives primarily in the soil University of Newcastle upon and associated water sources. The publication of the B. subtilis genome sequence and Tyne, Framlington Place, subsequent systematic functional analysis and gene regulation programmes, together with Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, an extensive understanding of its biochemistry and physiology, makes this micro-organism UK. a prime candidate in which to model regulatory networks in silico. In this paper we discuss E-mail: Colin.Harwood@ncl.ac.uk combined molecular biological and bioinformatical approaches that are being developed to model this organism’s responses to changes in its environment. Copyright # 2001 John Received: 5 December 2001 Wiley Sons, Ltd. Accepted: 6 December 2001 Keywords: DNA arrays; functional analysis; gene expression; reporter genes; database Published online: 20 December 2001 conception; database integration Introduction