Archaeal Plasmids
Georg Lipps
from: Plasmids: Current Research and Future Trends (Edited by: Georg Lipps). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2008)
Abstract
Although many archaea harbour plasmids our knowledge on the biology of archaeal plasmids has remained quite limited. In most cases it is not known how the plasmids are replicated and whether the host benefits from the extrachromosomal element. Sequence analysis of the archaeal plasmids has identified many protein genes whose function cannot be predicted by sequence similarity to known protein. These orphan genes provide a rich repertoire for rewarding functional studies on the molecular biology of archaea. Despite this lack of knowledge archaeal plasmids are increasingly important as genetic tools and allow to perform genetic studies in archaea read more ...
