The in silico prediction of bacterial essential genes

An essential gene can be defined as a gene without which a cell is unable to survive and whose deletion or disruption results in the death of the organism. For this reason, essential genes could furnish novel drug targets for the therapy of bacterial infections. Several strategies have been utilised to identify essential genes and these generally fall into two groups; identification by laboratory methods and prediction by computational methods. This chapter will give an overview of some of the methodologies employed for the identification and prediction of essential genes, discussing the benefits and drawbacks of the methods, with particular focus on in silico strategies.