A fosmid-based genomic map and identification of 474 genes of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum

We have constructed a physical map of the approximately 1.7-Mb genome of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrobaculum aerophilum. Derived from a 12x coverage genomic fosmid library with an average insert size of 36 Kb, the map consists of a Single circular contig of 96 overlapping fosmid clones with 211 markers ordered along them. One hundred of the sequence markers have strong similarities to known genes. Many overlaps were also checked using restriction fingerprint analysis. This map is an important step in the elucidation of the sequence of the entire genome of Pyrobaculum aerophilum. To this end we have determined more than 95% of the genome with 15000 random sequences. Each sequence has been screened against the public sequence databases to identify similarities to known genes. We report here a list of the 474 putative genes we have identified.