The Dictyostelium Genome

The 34 Mb genome of Dictyostelium discoideum is carried on 6 chromosomes and has been fully sequenced by an international consortium. The sequence was assembled on the classical and physical maps that had been built up over the years and refined by HAPPY mapping. Annotation of the sequence predicted about 12,000 genes for proteins of at least 50 amino acids in length. The total number of amino acids encoded (the proteome) is more than double that in yeast and rivals that of metazoans. The genome sequence shows all the proteins available to Dictyostelium as well as definitively showing which domains have been lost since Dictyostelium diverged from the line leading to metazoans. Genomics opens the door to determining the expression patterns of all the genes during growth and development using microarrays. This approach has already uncovered a wealth of new markers for the stages of development and the various cell types. Transcription factors and their cis-regulatory sites that account for the surprising complexity of Dictyostelium development can be analyzed much more easily now that we have the complete sequence.