An algebraic view of bacterial genome evolution (Q476821)

The paper describes the algebraic modelling of rearrangements of bacterial chromosomes at two levels: local (sequence level) and topological level. The author commences with an overview of evolutionary changes observed on bacterial genomes. Next, the underlying biological mechanisms are presented and the current approaches for modelling inversions are introduced. Following a description of the tangle algebra approach for describing topological evolution, the author discusses in detail the inversions and knotting in a common modelling framework, the Birman-Murakami-Wenzl algebra (BMW algebra), using features from braid groups and Coxeter groups. The algebraic connections with Iwahori-Hecke algebras and the Kauffman tangle algebra are also underlined.