¶ February 22 and 25, 2022:
Progress on the questions raised yesterday about the E. coli genome.
- How can I access the genome for E. coli?
- I went to the NCBI homepage and entered “E. coli” in the search box.
- I clicked on "Genome".
- ...which brought me to a
page
linking to several E. coli reference genomes:
Figure 1. NCBI page on E. coli - I found a web-based graphical genome browser. (Alternate short link.)
- There's also a downloadable graphical genome viewer for Windows, MacOS, and Linux, called NCBI Genome Workbench.
- Find some general info about the E. coli genome:
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Is it linear or circular?
How big is it?
Is it divided into pieces/chromosomes? How many?
An article from 2004 says: The Escherichia coli chromosome is 4.6 Mb long, circular, and contains a single origin of replication.
- How do we navigate the genome?
How do we specify particular locations in the genome? Is there a standard coordinate system, like numbering the nucleotides?
- How is the genome divided into sections? For example, human writings are usually divided into volumes, chapters, paragraphs, sentences, and words. Is the genome divided or organized in any way?
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