The calculation of information and organismal complexity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is difficult to measure precisely the phenotypic complexity of living organisms. Here we propose a method to calculate the minimal amount of genomic information needed to construct organism (effective information) as a measure of...

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Main Authors: Xu Cunshuan, Jiang Yun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2010-10-01
Series:Biology Direct
Online Access:http://www.biology-direct.com/content/5/1/59
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author Xu Cunshuan
Jiang Yun
author_facet Xu Cunshuan
Jiang Yun
author_sort Xu Cunshuan
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is difficult to measure precisely the phenotypic complexity of living organisms. Here we propose a method to calculate the minimal amount of genomic information needed to construct organism (effective information) as a measure of organismal complexity, by using permutation and combination formulas and Shannon's information concept.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results demonstrate that the calculated information correlates quite well with the intuitive organismal phenotypic complexity defined by traditional taxonomy and evolutionary theory. From viruses to human beings, the effective information gradually increases, from thousands of bits to hundreds of millions of bits. The simpler the organism is, the less the information; the more complex the organism, the more the information. About 13% of human genome is estimated as effective information or functional sequence.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The effective information can be used as a quantitative measure of phenotypic complexity of living organisms and also as an estimate of functional fraction of genome.</p> <p>Reviewers</p> <p>This article was reviewed by Dr. Lavanya Kannan (nominated by Dr. Arcady Mushegian), Dr. Chao Chen, and Dr. ED Rietman (nominated by Dr. Marc Vidal).</p>
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spelling doaj.art-87f4680e7c414e358ef0565bd8788c012022-12-21T23:16:35ZengBMCBiology Direct1745-61502010-10-01515910.1186/1745-6150-5-59The calculation of information and organismal complexityXu CunshuanJiang Yun<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is difficult to measure precisely the phenotypic complexity of living organisms. Here we propose a method to calculate the minimal amount of genomic information needed to construct organism (effective information) as a measure of organismal complexity, by using permutation and combination formulas and Shannon's information concept.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results demonstrate that the calculated information correlates quite well with the intuitive organismal phenotypic complexity defined by traditional taxonomy and evolutionary theory. From viruses to human beings, the effective information gradually increases, from thousands of bits to hundreds of millions of bits. The simpler the organism is, the less the information; the more complex the organism, the more the information. About 13% of human genome is estimated as effective information or functional sequence.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The effective information can be used as a quantitative measure of phenotypic complexity of living organisms and also as an estimate of functional fraction of genome.</p> <p>Reviewers</p> <p>This article was reviewed by Dr. Lavanya Kannan (nominated by Dr. Arcady Mushegian), Dr. Chao Chen, and Dr. ED Rietman (nominated by Dr. Marc Vidal).</p>http://www.biology-direct.com/content/5/1/59
spellingShingle Xu Cunshuan
Jiang Yun
The calculation of information and organismal complexity
Biology Direct
title The calculation of information and organismal complexity
title_full The calculation of information and organismal complexity
title_fullStr The calculation of information and organismal complexity
title_full_unstemmed The calculation of information and organismal complexity
title_short The calculation of information and organismal complexity
title_sort calculation of information and organismal complexity
url http://www.biology-direct.com/content/5/1/59
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