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Correlations between genomic GC levels and optimal growth temperatures in prokaryotes
Author(s) -
Musto Héctor,
Naya Hugo,
Zavala Alejandro,
Romero Héctor,
Alvarez-Valı́n Fernando,
Bernardi Giorgio
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2004.07.056
Subject(s) - biology , phylogenetic tree , correlation , evolutionary biology , genetics , gene , mathematics , geometry
In prokaryotes, GC levels range from 25% to 75%, and T opt from ≈0 °C to >100 °C. When all species are considered together, no correlation is found between the two variables. Correlations are found, however, when Families of prokaryotes are analysed. Indeed, when Families comprising at least 10 species were studied (a set of 20 Families), positive correlations are found for 15 of them. Furthermore, a comparative analysis by independent contrasts made within the Families in order to control for phylogenetic non‐independence showed qualitatively equivalent results. We conclude that T opt is one of the factors that influences genomic GC in prokaryotes.