Narrow Results

Series of coding sequence lengths extracted from the chromosome of Bacillus subtilis were subjected to detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). The non-linear characteristic of the DFA plot was interpreted in terms of short-range correlation. The analysis was performed on series consisting of the whole chromosome coding sequences, as well as on the leading and lagging strands. These were compared to the same series subjected to a randomization procedure. The series were divided into two halves, which also revealed different short-range characteristics. Similar results were noticed for seven strains of Escherichia coli. Therefore, the short-range correlation characteristics are sensitive to species and strains and could be used for comparative investigations of microbial genome organization.