The guanine and cytosine content of genomic DNA and bacterial evolution.

The genomic guanine and cytosine (G + C) content of eubacteria is related to their phylogeny. The G + C content of various parts of the genome (protein genes, stable RNA genes, and spacers) reveals a positive linear correlation with the G + C content of their genomic DNA. However, the plotted correlation slopes differ among various parts of the genome or among the first, second, and third positions of the codons depending on their functional importance. Facts suggest that biased mutation pressure, called A X T/G X C pressure, has affected whole DNA during evolution so as to determine the genomic G + C content in a given bacterium. The role of A X T/G X C pressure in diversification of bacterial DNA sequences and codon usage patterns is discussed in the perspective of the neutral theory of molecular evolution.