Figure 2

Use case 1. Identify gene gains and losses. In this synteny view of BorreliaBase, orthologous ORFs are shaded with the same colors (right) and arranged according to the genome phylogeny (left). Such a display helps to identify evolutionary gains and losses of genes. In this example, the gene ospB (shared vertically in gray) is apparently lost during the evolution of B. garinii (represented here by two strains PBr and Far04). Uncolored ORFs contain frameshift mutations, which may also be sequencing errors. The synteny view of BorreliaBase is dynamic rather than static, allowing users to obtain customized synteny views centered on any specific gene (ospA in this case, marked by a vertical red line on the ruler, which is based on the scale of the B31 genome).