Compositional correlation between open reading frames with opposite transcriptional orientations in Escherichia coli

This paper analyzes correlations in base composition between pairs of neigh boring genes in Escherichia coli. The G + C contents of nearby, but converg ently or divergently transcribed, genes show weak but significant correlati ons, and this is attributed to compositional variation among genomic region s. The finding that the base composition varies among intergenic regions, d epending upon whether the adjacent genes are transcribed convergently, dive rgently, or in the same orientation, seems to indicate that transcription a ffects the patterns of mutation and, therefore, the overall base compositio n of the region.