The application ofcomputational methods to solve scientific and practical problems in genome research created a new interdisciplinary area that transcends boundaries tradi tionally separating genetics, biology, mathematics, physics, and computer science. Com puters have, of course, been intensively used in the field of life sciences for many years, even before genome research started, to store and analyze DNA or protein sequences; to explore and model the three-dimensional structure, the dynamics, and the function of biopolymers; to compute genetic linkage or evolutionary processes; and more. The rapid development of new molecular and genetic technologies, combined with ambitious goals to explore the structure and function ofgenomes ofhigher organisms, has generated, how ever, not only a huge and exponentially increasing body of data but also a new class of scientific questions. The nature and complexity of these questions will also require, be yond establishing a new kind ofalliance between experimental and theoretical disciplines, the development of new generations both in computer software and hardware technolo gies. New theoretical procedures, combined with powerful computational facilities, will substantially extend the horizon of problems that genome research can attack with suc cess. Many of us still feel that computational models rationalizing experimental findings in genome research fulfill their promises more slowly than desired. There is also an uncer tainty concerning the real position of a "theoretical genome research" in the network of established disciplines integrating their efforts in this field.

The application of computational methods to solve scientific and pratical problems in genome research created a new interdisciplinary area that transcends boundaries traditionally separating genetics, biology, mathematics, physics, and computer science. Computers have been, of course, intensively used for many year~ in the field of life sciences, even before genome research started, to store and analyze DNA or proteins sequences, to explore and model the three-dimensional structure, the dynamics and the function of biopolymers, to compute genetic linkage or evolutionary processes etc. The rapid development of new molecular and genetic technologies, combined with ambitious goals to explore the structure and function of genomes of higher organisms, has generated, however, not only a huge and burgeoning body of data but also a new class of scientific questions. The nature and complexity of these questions will require, beyond establishing a new kind of alliance between experimental and theoretical disciplines, also the development of new generations both in computer software and hardware technologies, respectively. New theoretical procedures, combined with powerful computational facilities, will substantially extend the horizon of problems that genome research can ·attack with success. Many of us still feel that computational models rationalizing experimental findings in genome research fulfil their promises more slowly than desired. There also is an uncertainity concerning the real position of a 'theoretical genome research' in the network of established disciplines integrating their efforts in this field.

Over 500 prokaryotic genomes have been sequenced to date, and thousands more have been planned for the next few years. While these genomic sequence data provide unprecedented opportunities for biologists to study the world of prokaryotes, they also raise extremely challenging issues such as how to decode the rich information encoded in these genomes. This comprehensive volume includes a collection of cohesively written chapters on prokaryotic genomes, their organization and evolution, the information they encode, and the computational approaches needed to derive such information. A comparative view of bacterial and archaeal genomes, and how information is encoded differently in them, is also presented. Combining theoretical discussions and computational techniques, the book serves as a valuable introductory textbook for graduate-level microbial genomics and informatics courses.

Over 500 prokaryotic genomes have been sequenced to date, and thousands more have been planned for the next few years. While these genomic sequence data provide unprecedented opportunities for biologists to study the world of prokaryotes, they also raise extremely challenging issues such as how to decode the rich information encoded in these genomes. This comprehensive volume includes a collection of cohesively written chapters on prokaryotic genomes, their organization and evolution, the information they encode, and the computational approaches needed to derive such information. A comparative view of bacterial and archaeal genomes, and how information is encoded differently in them, is also presented. Combining theoretical discussions and computational techniques, the book serves as a valuable introductory textbook for graduate-level microbial genomics and informatics courses. Contents: General Characteristics of Prokaryotic Genomes (J Mrázek & A O Summers)Genes in Prokaryotic Genomes and Their Computational Prediction (R K Azad)Evolution of the Genetic Code: Computational Methods and Inferences (G Fournier)Dynamics of Prokaryotic Genome Evolution (P Lapierre)Mobile Genetic Elements and Their Prediction (M G I Langille et al.)Horizontal Gene Transfer: Its Detection and Role in Microbial Evolution (J P Gogarten & O Zhaxybayeva)Genome Reduction During Prokaryotic Evolution (F J Silva & A Latorre)Comparative Mechanisms for Transcription and Regulatory Signals in Archaea and Bacteria (A Martínez-Antonio & J Collado-Vides)Computational Techniques for Orthologous Gene Prediction in Prokaryotes (M Poptsova)Computational Elucidation of Operons and Uber-Operons (P Dam et al.)Prediction of Regulons Through Comparative Genome Analyses (Z-C Su et al.)Prediction of Biological Pathways Through Data Mining and Information Fusion (F-L Mao et al.)Microbial Pathway Models (S R Veflingstad et al.)Metagenomics (K Arima & J Wooley) Readership: Graduate students and microbiologists in microbial genomics and bioinformatics. Keywords:Bacteria;Archaea;Genomes;Genome Evolution;Orthologs;Genomic Structure;Operons;Regulons;Comparative Genomics;Microbial Pathways;Gene Duplication;Gene TransferKey Features:Tightly integrates theoretical discussions and computational approaches pertaining to prokaryotic genomesProvides, where appropriate, comparative studies of bacterial versus archaeal genomesIncludes contributions from leading researchers in the field, including Peter Gogarten, Anne Summers, Julio Collado Vides, Eberhard Volt, Ying Xu, and John Wooley

This book examines developments in statistical methodology and the challenges that followed rapidly improving sequencing technologies.Includes articles encompassing theoretical works and hands-on tutorials, as well as many reviews with key biological insight."

Together with early theoretical work in population genetics, the debate on sources of genetic makeup initiated by proponents of the neutral theory made a solid contribution to the spectacular growth in statistical methodologies for molecular evolution. Evolutionary Genomics: Statistical and Computational Methods is intended to bring together the more recent developments in the statistical methodology and the challenges that followed as a result of rapidly improving sequencing technologies. Presented by top scientists from a variety of disciplines, the collection includes a wide spectrum of articles encompassing theoretical works and hands-on tutorials, as well as many reviews with key biological insight. Volume 2 begins with phylogenomics and continues with in-depth coverage of natural selection, recombination, and genomic innovation. The remaining chapters treat topics of more recent interest, including population genomics, -omics studies, and computational issues related to the handling of large-scale genomic data. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series format, this work provides the kind of advice on methodology and implementation that is crucial for getting ahead in genomic data analyses. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Evolutionary Genomics: Statistical and Computational Methods is a treasure chest of state-of the-art methods to study genomic and omics data, certain to inspire both young and experienced readers to join the interdisciplinary field of evolutionary genomics.