Genomewide expression analysis in amino acid-producing bacteria using DNA microarrays

DNA microarray technology has become an important research tool for biotechnology and microbiology. It is now possible to characterize genetic diversity and gene expression in a genomewide manner. DNA microarrays have been applied extensively to study the biology of many bacteria including Escherichia coli, but only recently have they been developed for the Grampositive Corynebacterium glutamicium. Both bacteria are widely used for biotechnological amino acid production. In this article, in addition to the design and generation of microarrays as well as their use in hybridization experiments and subsequent data analysis, we describe recent applications of DNA microarray technology regarding amino acid production in C. glutamicum and E. coli. We also discuss the impact of functional genomics studies on fundamental as well as applied aspects of amino acid production with C. glutamicum and E. coli.