Computational methods for gene finding in prokaryotes

Abstract

Gene finding is crucial in understanding the genome of a species. The long genomic sequence is not very useful, unless its biologically functional subsequences (genes) are identified. Along with the ongoing revolution in sequencing technology, the number of sequenced genomes has increased drastically. Therefore, the development of reliable automated techniques for predicting genes has become critical. Automatic gene prediction is one of the essential issues in bioinformatics. Many approaches have been proposed and a lot of tools have been developed. This paper compiles information about some of the currently most widely used gene finders for prokaryotic genomes, explaining the underlying computational methods and highlighting their advantages and limitations. Finally, the gene finders are tested on a strain with high GC-content.