Figure 2. Aligned GAS genomes.
Illustrated are linear diagrams of the four newly determined GAS genome sequences and regions of conserved gene content in pair-wise comparisons. Shown for each genome diagram in green are the six rRNA operons, in red are prophages, and in blue are ICEs. Whole-genome comparisons were made using BLASTN (www.webact.org, e = 1×10−4, word size = 18 nt) and the graphic depictions of the alignments were made using the Artemis Comparison Tool (www.sanger.ac.uk/Software/ACT/). Regions of conserved syntenic gene content are indicated by blocks of salmon linking the stacked genome diagrams. Nearly all regions of discontinuity in the genome alignments are attributable to exogenous genetic elements.