Jaschke PR, Dotson GA, Hung KS, Liu D, Endy D.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Nov 26;116(48):24206-24213. doi:10.1073/pnas.1905990116

Definitive demonstration by synthesis of genome annotation completeness.

A øX174 genome where most cryptic ORFs were erased is still viable. In its initial version, its growth was slower than the wild type, but an in vitro selection isolated a point mutant that recovered the growth phenotype. Additional experiments suggest that the point mutation affected the translation levels of one of the major ORFs. A øX174 genome where the major ORFs are mutated is not viable, and only a single cryptic ORF shows detectable levels of expression.