Genetic neighborhoods distinguish harmful poultry bacteria from harmless strains

Researchers at the University of Arkansas have found a new way to spot disease-causing bacteria: by examining their genetic neighborhoods. Phys.org reports that the team used machine learning to study not just which genes a bacterium carries, but where those genes sit in relation to each other. Applied to Enterococcus cecorum, a poultry pathogen, the approach successfully distinguished harmful strains from harmless ones.

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