The minimal gene set for life has often been theorised, with at least ten produced for Mycoplasma genitalium (M. genitalium). Due to the difficulty of using M. genitalium in the lab, combined with its long replication time of 12 - 15 hours, none of these theoretical minimal genomes have been tested, even with modern techniques. The publication of the M. genitalium whole-cell model provided the first opportunity to test them, simulating the genome edits in-silico. We simulated eight minimal gene sets from the literature, finding that they produced in-silico cells that did not divide. Using knowledge from previous research, we reintroduced specific essential and low essential genes in-silico; enabling cellular division. This reinforces the need to identify species-specific low essential genes and their interactions. Any genome designs created using the currently incomplete and fragmented gene essentiality information, will very likely require in-vivo reintroductions to correct issues and produce dividing cells.

中文翻译：

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使用全细胞模型测试理论上的最小基因组

关于生命的最小基因集经常被理论化，生殖支原体（M. genitalium）至少产生十个。由于在实验室中使用生殖器支原体比较困难，并且复制时间较长（12-15小时），因此即使使用现代技术，也没有对这些理论上最小的基因组进行过测试。生殖器支原体全细胞模型的发布提供了第一个机会对其进行测试，从而模拟了计算机模拟的基因组编辑。我们从文献中模拟了八个最小基因集，发现它们产生了不会分裂的硅内细胞。利用先前研究的知识，我们在计算机上重新引入了特定的必需和低必需基因。使细胞分裂。这加强了鉴定物种特异性的低必需基因及其相互作用的需要。