The Ashbya gossypii genome as a tool for mapping the ancient Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome.

We have sequenced and annotated the genome of the filamentous ascomycete Ashbya gossypii. With a size of only 9.2 megabases, encoding 4718 protein-coding genes, it is the smallest genome of a free-living eukaryote yet characterized.

Reinvestigation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome annotation by comparison to the genome of a related fungus: Ashbya gossypii.

Background: The recently sequenced genome of the filamentous fungus Ashbya gossypii revealed remarkable similarities to that of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae both at the level of homology and synteny (conservation of gene order). Thus, it became possible to reinvestigate the S. cerevisiae genome in the syntenic regions leading to an improved annotation.