A probabilistic learning approach to whole-genome operon prediction

Abstract

We present a computational approach to predicting operons in the genomes of prokaryotic organisms. Our approach uses machine learning methods to induce predictive models for this task from a rich variety of data types including sequence data, gene expression data, and functional annotations associated with genes. We use multiple learned models that individually predict promoters, terminators and operons themselves. A key part of our approach is a dynamic programming method that uses our predictions to map every known and putative gene in a given genome into its most probable operon. We evaluate our approach using data from the E. coli K-12 genome.