Читать книгу Algorithms in Bioinformatics - Paul A. Gagniuc - Страница 74

Bioinformatics is the field that will perhaps lead to a clearer understanding of both the origins and the current mechanisms of life. Here, an introduction provided the necessary context for a better understanding of different approaches used in the field of bioinformatics and, possibly, for new ideas “just waiting” to be implemented in the future. In a first stage, the chapter described the units of measurement used throughout the book, and presented a series of useful conversions, followed by discussions regarding organisms with the largest/smallest genomes. In a second stage, the average values related to the genome size in different kingdoms of life were calculated and discussed. In this context, the global features of viral genomes, plasmid DNA and various genome-containing organelles found in different eukaryotic organisms have been described in brief. Furthermore, viroids have been mentioned in connection with the properties shown by catalytic RNAs. Toward the end of the chapter, discussions were gradually switched from catalytic RNAs to RNA splicing. The frequency of RNA splicing was further pointed out by a comparison between the average number of genes and proteins in the main kingdoms of life.