Microbial Genome Sequencing: Prospects for Development of Novel Vaccines and Anti-Microbial Compounds

Since the first genome sequence for a free-living organism, Haemophilus influenzae, was published in 1995[1], more than 50 microbial sequencing projects have been completed. Work is underway on more than 100 microbial genome projects from a diverse group of pathogens, archaea, and species of evolutionary importance (see http://www.tigr.org for a complete list). In the next 2–3 years, international efforts in microbial genome sequencing will generate more than 250 Mbp of DNA sequence containing ~300,000 predicted genes, several times the number of genes expected from completion of the human genome project. Genome sequencing still remains the most robust method for assessing the overall gene complement of any organism and as costs for DNA sequencing have dramatically decreased, the possibility of using this approach to study new species and microbial populations has become more realistic. It is important to keep in mind that all of the work done to date in microbial genomics has focused on species that can be cultured in the laboratory or grown in animal cells. However, uncultured species should be a priority for future genome studies and the technology now exists to allow us to think about microbial community genome projects.