I have looked and looked for a picture of the Borrelia burgdorferi (a prokaryote) chromosome, which supposedly is a linear chromosome. I have seen images of a plasmid in it, which I guess was linear. I have a microbiology book that says the microorganism has a linear chromosome, which surprises me. I'm guessing this is a unique bacterium in comparison to other bacteria.

 

I've looked, and I'm guessing posting here might help. Asking the author to cough up the reference source is my last bet.

 

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borrelia_burgdorferi

Borrelia is not that unique. There are a number of different bacteria with linear chromosomes. This includes e.g. Agrobacterium some cyanobacteria, Rhodococcus and I think some Streptomyces. It is true that they are rather rare, though. But check some older papers from those species and you should find something.

That sounds new to me. Will this linear chromosome feature grants the bacterium any species advantage? And amongst all the species having this feature, does it imply recent ancestral origin between them (is this feature homologous?)?

I think it is more a mechanistic element rather than something that confers any type of selective advantages. Their prevalence is more or less dictated by the fact that they often carry crucial genes for the bacterium in question.

Twins will be taking Adv Algebra LOF this semester Jan 2010. They used Dolcinais book as reinforcement for Beg Alg. There will be some linear algebra in LOF and I would like another source for material. Any suggestions?

Karen