CA2437537A1

CA2437537A1 - Docking mechanism for notebook-tablet computer

Info

Publication number: CA2437537A1
Application number: CA 2437537
Authority: CA
Inventors: Paul Hoang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-08-27
Filing date: 2003-08-27
Publication date: 2005-02-27

Abstract

A two-part docking mechanism that enables a tablet to dock onto a 'Laptop-Base Computer' and form a regular notebook. One part, a docking-cover, supports the tablet when the tablet pivots, assists the tablet to move 'in and out' of docking position and folds down to cover the keyboard when the tablet is not docked. The second part, an ejector plate, secures the tablet in the tablet's docked configuration and pushes out the tablet when the tablet is moved out of docking position.
The docking mechanism design accommodates current laptop models and only requires modification to the lid of the laptop - the laptop inner components and all peripherals require no modification. If so desired, an optional tablet lock secures the tablet permanently to the docking-cover. The design also facilitates the conversion of most existing laptop designs into 'Notebook-Tablet' computers.

Description

Background of Invention:
Field of the Invention:
The invention relates generally to the field of computer. More specifically, the invention relates to docking mechanism between a touch tablet computer device and a laptop computer. The touch tablet computer device, henceforth referred to as 'tablet', has been on the market for some time. Tablet designs vary between specialized tablets, such as those used by courier companies to acquire recipient signatures, to those like the hand-held Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet PC TM which cater to general-purpose computing. Tablets fulfill the requirement for portability and encourage the purchase of extra electronic devices to satisfy specific requirements. The proliferation of the PDAs l0 (Personal Digital Assistants) over the last seven years is analogous to the rise of calculators over the last 30 years - people are buying them for their ability and portability.
Understandably, users will occasionally want a full feature computer to do more complex tasks. Although a laptop is not as portable as a tablet, it is a very popular choice for complex tasks as demonstrated by the marketplace. According to a study by IDCTM, PC
manufacturers shipped approximately 30.5 million laptops worldwide in 2002. In doing so, individuals who have purchased laptops and now wish to acquire the features of a tablet are forced to purchase tablet only devices. In turn, an opportunity has arisen for designs that enable the conversion of these laptops into 'tablet capable machines'. A new design is needed that offers the features of a lightweight tablet, laptop computing power when needed and is able to utilize the abundant supply of laptops worldwide.
2o Description of prior art European patent US2002/011375 depicts a design whereby a tablet combines with another of the same to form a larger unit. Unfortunately, the system is awkward to use.
European patent EP1227387 details a design of a notebook computer with a detachable display. Novel in concept, it lacks in ability because the display only relays computer information and does not house a computer processor.
US patent 5,355,279 depicts a display design that is removable to allow the display to reverse.
Again, the design does not permit any function other than display information from the main laptop unit.
US patent 5,796,576 allows a display to slide out of a laptop computer unit but does not 3o provide any computing power on the display.

US design patent D421,972 illustrates a laptop computer capable of detaching its keyboard to allow the remainder portion to form an upright display unit. Unfortunately, the unit does not form a stand-alone tablet.
European patent FR2?99016 details a portable rigid frame that houses a keyboard and a 35 display terminal. The keyboard is detached from the main unit while the rest of the unit is used as a display terminal. Here a separate unit is formed, but the design for the display unit does not function as a stand-alone tablet.
US patent 6,166,734 and similarly, Microsoft MiraTM, offer a computer display that connects wirelessly to a host computer (http://www.microsoft.coralwindowslsmartdisplay/evaluation/faq.asp.) 4o However, they only relay the information and do not process the display information.
The current tablet designs are more or less laptops that swivel their displays to change into tablet computers. Unfortunately, these designs typically weigh three pounds or more and make portability a major inconvenience for the user - they are full computers miniaturized into a small tablet form factor. Their processors and hard drives consume large amounts of battery power and 45 generate a lot of heat. Furthermore, they run large operating systems, such as Microsoft Tablet PCTM, which demand large amounts of memory to function. It is obvious that the prior art fails to address: (1) the issue of portability and (2) allow the user the flexibility to perform high computational tasks when required.
Summary of the Invention 5o The invention pertains to a new way of combining the computing power of a laptop and the portability of a tablet.
The new computer product is a two-part docking mechanism that allows a tablet to dock onto a 'Laptop-Base Computer' (LBC) to form a portable computer called a 'Notebook-Tablet'. The Notebook-Tablet is comprised of (1) a LBC and (2) a tablet. The LBC is a regular laptop computer 55 without the display screen - the video information still exists internally within the LBC, however, an external monitor must be attached to the LBC's video port to view the video information. The tablet is a standalone lightweight device built with a simple CPU (as compared to the LBC CPU) and when docked onto a LBC it changes function from a tablet to a LBC display.
The docking mechanism is comprised of two components: (1) a docking-cover and (2) an 60 ejector plate. The docking-cover supports the tablet when the user angles the display in notebook configuration. Also, the shape of the docking-cover helps move the tablet 'in and out' of docking position with ease. When the tablet is no longer docked, the docking-cover folds down to cover the keyboard. The ejector plate secures the tablet in the docked configuration and pushes out the tablet when the tablet is removed for independent use.
65 The docking-cover design fits most current laptop models with only some modification required to the laptop lid - the laptop inner components and peripherals can be used without modification.
The simple design encourages the quick introduction of the Notebook-Tablet to the market and in turn, the commerce associated with it. The docking-cover design allows laptop manufacturers to convert existing laptop designs into Notebook-Tablet designs and still address the retrofit market for '7o the number of laptops already in existence. In both cases, the conversion is facilitated by: (1) replacing the top part of the laptop casing with a docking-cover and an ejector plate and (2) connecting the display signal ribbon, USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector and DC power to the new docking-cover design. The components required to implement the change are illustrated in Figure 2.
~s Brief description of the drawings Figure 1. Isometric view of the Notebook-Tablet in ejecting configuration with an enlarged view of the connector assembly at A. All ports and peripheral slots on the laptop processor unit are omitted for clarity.
Figure 2. Three components that need modification to convert a laptop computer into a Notebook-80 Tablet computer. The keyboard on the laptop processor unit is omitted for clarity.
Figure 3a. Cross section of the Notebook-Tablet in Configuration 1 - Docked and Closed.
Figure 3b. Cross section of the Notebook-Tablet in Configuration 2 - Docked and Opened.
Figure 3c. Cross section of the Notebook-Tablet in Configuration 3 - Ejecting.
Figure 4. Isometric view of the Notebook-Tablet in the 'Docked and Closed' position.
85 Figure 5. Isometric view of the Notebook-Tablet in the 'Docked and Opened' position.
Figure 6. Isometric view of the LBC with the docking-cover closed to protect the keyboard.
Figure 7. Four profile views of the Notebook-Tablet in the 'Docked and Closed' configuration.
Counter clockwise from top left: top view, front view, right side view, and isometric view.
Figure 8. Four profile views of the LBC with the tablet removed and the docking-cover opened.
9o Counter clockwise from top left: top view, front view, right side view, and isometric view.
Figure 9. Four profile views of the LBC with the tablet removed and the docking-cover closed to protect the keyboard. Counter clockwise from top left: top view, front view, right side view, and isometric view.
Figure 10a. Schematic views of the information flow when the tablet is docked onto the LBC. The 95 tablet's display signal comes from the video connector while tablet's memory and peripherals are accessed through the USB connector.
Figure lOb. Schematic views of the information flow when the tablet is ejected from the LBC.

Figure 11. The tablet lock mechanism with the lock in the open position. The view is from the back (bottom right) of the Notebook Tablet looking towards the front (top left) of the Notebook 10o Tablet.
Figure 12. Alternate locations for tablet lock.
Figure 13. Alternate locations for ejector plate.
Parts - Numbers and Names Number Name 105 Whole unit Notebook Tablet , Laptop-Base Computer (LBC) Width dimension (also side direction) Length dimension (also front direction) Height dimension (also top direction) ll0 100 Tablet 101 Expansion slot 102 Lock hole 103 Tablet pen 200 Docking-cover 115 201 Side-guides 202 Connector assembly 203 Guide pins 204 Video connector 205 USB connector 120 206 DC power connector 207 Guide pin lock 208 Tablet lock 209a Alternate top surface lock location 209b Alternate side lock locations 125 210a Alternate top ejector plate location 210b Alternate side ejector plate locations 220 Docking-cover end 300 Ejector plate 301 Lock notches 130 302 Rocker arms 400 Laptop processor unit 401 Hinges 402a Wire ribbon connecting laptop processor unit and underside of docking-cover 402b Wire ribbon connecting laptop processor unit and docking-cover through hinge 135 403 Line of pivot Detailed description of the Invention Figure 1 illustrates the separate components of the invention. The entire unit is referred to as a 'Notebook-Tablet'. With the tablet [100] removed, the remaining unit is referred to as the Laptop-Base Computer (LBC) [10]. The LBC contains a docking-cover [200] that acts as a holder for the 140 tablet and as a cover for the keyboard when the tablet is removed. At the bottom of the docking-cover is the ejector plate [300] that keeps the tablet in place during docked configuration and pushes out the tablet when the user wants to eject the tablet from the docking-cover.
The docking-cover, along with the ejector plate, connect to the laptop processor unit via hinges [401] on the laptop processor unit [400]. The laptop processor unit is the box unit that houses the main CPU, memory 145 and all the motherboard components that perform the function of a regular laptop. It also houses all built-in ports and peripheral slots required for operation as a regular laptop. All the ports and peripheral slots on the laptop processor unit are omitted for illustration clarity. Toward the bottom of the docking-cover is the connector assembly [202]. The connector assembly is equipped with three electrical connections: a male video connector [204], a male USB connector [205] and a male DC
15o power connector [206]. By separating the connector assembly into three parts, the tablet easily integrates into existing laptop designs with minimal modification. The video connector facilitates video transmissions to the tablet display. The USB connector allows information to flow freely between the LBC and the tablet. And lastly, the power connector provides a charging source for the tablet battery. When the LBC is not plugged into a DC power source, the LBC
and in turn the 155 tablet, are unable to recharge. The connector assembly is enlarged for clarity in Figure 1.
Inside the docking-cover, at the bottom of the connector assembly, sits the electronic system that connects the laptop processor unit to the tablet. The electronic system is hidden inside the docking-cover. The connection between the laptop processor unit and the docking-cover can be configured in one of two ways: (1) hidden within one of the hinges [402b] or (2) inconspicuously 160 wired underneath the docking-cover [402a].
To further detail the mechanics and configurations of the unit, it is most favourable to define a common point of reference. With the Notebook-Tablet in front of the user and the line of pivot [403] running parallel to the user's chest, the dimension parallel to the line of pivot and the user's chest is defined as width [20]. The dimension perpendicular to the width and directed toward the 165 user is defined as length [30]. The dimension perpendicular to both the width and length is defined as height [40]. The location closest to the user is the front [30] and the location furthest from the user is the back. The left and right sides of the user correspond to the left and right sides [20] of all the components, while the upward orientation is the top [40] and downward orientation is the bottom.
170 There are three configurations for the Notebook-Tablet: (1) Docked and Closed, (2) Docked and Opened and (3) Ejecting and Docking. Figures 1 to 6 illustrate the operation of the Notebook-Tablet.
Configuration 1 - Docked and Closed: When the tablet is docked onto the LBC
and is closed, the Notebook-Tablet resembles a laptop computer as shown in Figure 4. In the docked and closed position, the width of the laptop processor unit is the same as the width of the tablet. The width of n75 the docking cover is the same as the width of the laptop processor unit plus the thickness of the two side-guides [201 ], so that the docking-cover can fold down and have the side-guides fit snuggly against the left and right sides of the laptop processor unit as illustrated in Figure 9. The length of the tablet is slightly less than the length of the laptop processor unit to ensure that when docked and closed, the front edge of the tablet matches the front edge of the laptop processor unit. The length of 180 the hollowed out portion of the docking-cover, where the tablet sits when docked, is equal to half the length of the tablet. The remaining half of the tablet protrudes beyond the docking-cover.
The tablet is kept in position via two lock notches [301] on the ejector plate that latch onto two corresponding lock holes [102] on the tablet as illustrated in Figure 3a. If so desired, an optional tablet lock [208] can be fitted to permanently secure the tablet onto the docking-cover. The side-185 guides on the docking-cover block half of the tablet expansion slot [101]
to minimize the potential for theft of expansion cards, and at the same time, accommodate wireless card antennas or similar while docked onto the LBC. Further details of the top, front, right, and isometric views of the Notebook-Tablet are shown in Figure 7.
Configuration 2 - Docked and Opened: When the tablet is docked and opened (as illustrated 19o in Figure 5), the Notebook-Tablet functions as a regular laptop computer.
In this configuration, the tablet operates as a display for the laptop processor unit. The video signals from the laptop processor unit pass-through to the tablet via the connector assembly's video connector.
Aside from sending video signals, the LBC can share expansion features from tablet add-on cards.
As illustrated in Figure 10a, whenever the tablet is docked, the tablet shares information with the LBC. For example, 195 the laptop processor unit can access a digital camera card connected to the tablet when the tablet is in docked formation. The information is transferred through the USB connector on the connector assembly. In this position, the LBC can retrieve information stored on the tablet and upload information to the tablet.
The ejector plate, when in the docked and opened position, holds the tablet in place with its 20o two lock notches as shown in Figure 3b. While assisting the ejector plate to secure the tablet in place, the connector assembly and the flat surface of the docking-cover also allow the tablet to pivot open and close along the line of pivot [403] in the same fashion as a laptop display.
Configuration 3 - Ejecting and Docking: To disengage the tablet from the LBC, the user pulls back on the ejector plate toward the front of the LBC. The rotating motion of the ejector plate pulls 205 the lock notches away from the lock holes on the tablet with the two side-guides on the docking-cover allowing the tablet to move out in a straight path. At the same time, the rocker arms [302] on the ejector plate push the tablet upward as illustrated in Figure 3c. Once the tablet is about 2 to 3 mm above its docking position, the user can pull the tablet out of the docking-cover and use it as a portable device. The removal of the tablet from the LBC reveals the tablet pen [103] tucked in 2~o behind the ejector plate. Figure 8 shows four profile views-top, front, right and isometric-of the LBC while the docking-cover is opened and the tablet is removed.
Once the tablet is removed from the docking-cover, the docking-cover folds down to cover the keyboard as shown in Figures 6 and 9. With the tablet removed, the CPU in the laptop processor functions independently of the tablet. In this state, the tablet accepts user input, runs small programs 215 and displays information on its large touch screen. When either docked or removed, the tablet operates under its own power source-NiMH, LiIon or future fuel cell batteries.
To conserve power, it is not equipped with a speaker, but might house an audio input/output jack for convenience.
Figure lOb illustrates the flow of information when the tablet is removed from the docking-cover.
To dock the tablet, the process is reversed. The user slides the tablet into the docking-cover.
22o As the tablet slides down toward the connector assembly, the side-guides keep the tablet aligned to meet to the connector assembly. The guide pin holes on the tablet slide into the guide pins [203] on the docking-cover and eventually, the bottom of the tablet contacts the rocker arms of the ejector plate. As the tablet pushes the rocker arms downward, the ejector plate pivots and moves the lock notches toward the lock holes on the tablet. When the tablet comes to rest at the bottom of the 225 docking-cover, the lock notches are nicely nestled into the tablet's lock holes and the connector assembly is in complete contact with the corresponding connections on the tablet.
Other potential locations for the ejector plate include: (1) the top of the docking-cover [210a]
and (2) both sides of the docking-cover (210b]. Both options are as illustrated in Figure 13. These alternatives are advantageous because they provide high visibility. However, to protect against 230 inappropriate tampering, the ejector plate would need to be reinforced.
An optional locking mechanism is available for the Notebook Tablet. It is a shaft that extends from the lock's cylinder into the right side guide pin, as illustrated in Figure 11. In the open position, the tablet is able to freely slide 'in and out' of the guide pin lock without obstruction. The tablet is locked by rotating the guide pin [203] 90 degrees so that the guide pin lock [207] mates with the 235 lock hole [102]. The lock is located on the docking-cover end [220] with its key entry portion facing the back of the docking-cover as illustrated in Figure 11. Alternative tablet lock locations--( 1 ) at the top of the docking-cover [209a] or (2) at one of the sides of the docking-cover [209b]-are illustrated in Figure 12 that provide good visibility, easy access and allow the user to lock the tablet in either the open or closed position. The tablet lock can also be located to work in conjunction with 240 the ejector plate or independent of the ejector plate.
Although the invention is described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it should be understood that various modifications, additions and alterations may be made to the invention by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain in said culture overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism;
contesting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein said culture includes at least one strain which does not overexpresses a gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism.

3. The method of Claim 1, wherein said strains which overexpress said gene products comprise a nucleic acid encoding said gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism operably linked to a regulatable promoter.

4. The method of Claim 1, wherein said strains which overexpress said gene products a nucleic acid encoding said gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism operably linked to a constitutive promoter.

5. The method of Claim 1, wherein said identification step comprises determining the nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid encoding said gene product in said cell which proliferated more rapidly in said culture.

6. The method of Claim 1, wherein said identification step comprises performing an amplification reaction to identify the nucleic acid encoding said gene product in said cell which proliferated more rapidly in said cell culture.

7. The method of Claim 6, wherein the products of said amplification reaction are labeled with a detectable dye.

8. The method of Claim 1, wherein said identification step comprises performing a hybridization procedure.

9. The method of Claim 1, wherein said identification step comprises contacting a nucleic acid array with a nucleic acid encoding said gene product in said cell which proliferated more rapidly in said cell culture.

10. The method of Claim 1, wherein said organism is selected from the group consisting of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.

11. The method of Claim 1, wherein said culture is a culture of an organism selected from the group consisting of Anaplasma marginale, Aspergillus fumigatus, Bacillus arathracis, Bacterioides fragilis Bordetella pertussis, Burkholderia cepacia, Campylobacter jejuni, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata (also called Torulopsis glabrata), Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida guilliermondii, Candida krusei, Candida kefyr (also called Candida pseudotropicalis), Candida dubliniensis, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Chlamydia trachomatus, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium diffile, Clostridium perfringens, Coccidiodes immitis. Corynebacteriunt diptheriae, Cryptococcus neoformans, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia tale, Haemophilus influenzae, Helicobacter pylori, Histoplasma capsulatum, Klebstella pneumoniae, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitides, Nocardia asteroides, Pasteurella haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Pneumocystis carinii, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella bongori, Salmonella cholerasuis, Salmonella enterica, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Moxarella catarrhalis, Shigella boydii, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus mutans, Treponema pallidum, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Yersinia pestis.

12. The method of Claim 1, wherein said compound is obtained from a library of natural compounds.

13. The method of Claim 1, wherein said compound is obtained from a library of synthetic compounds.

14. The method of Claim 1, wherein said compound is present in a crude or partially purified state.

15. The method of Claim 1, further comprising determining whether said gene product in said strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture has a counterpart in at least one other organism.

16. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain in said culture overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture.

17. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism ants comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain in said culture overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.; 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture.

18. A method far identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain in said culture overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture.

19. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain in said culture overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID
NOs: 8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product an which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture.

20. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain in said culture overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein paid culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN
version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture.

21. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain in said culture overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprises a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture.

22. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining an array of strains on a solid growth medium wherein each strain in overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism contacting said array of strains with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly on said solid medium.

23. The method of Claim 21, wherein at least one strain in said array does not overexpresses a gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism.

24. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a plurality of cultures, wherein each culture comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism;

contacting each of said cultures with a different concentration of said compound ; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain whose proliferation is inhibited by said compound.

25. The method of Claim 23, wherein at least one strain in said plurality of cultures does not overexpress a gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism.

26. A method of profiling a compound's activity comprising performing the method of Claim 1 on a first culture using a first compound;
performing the method of Claim 1 on a second culture using a second compound; and comparing the strains identified in said first culture to the strains identified in said second culture.

27. A method of profiling a first compound's activity comprising growing an array of strains on a first solid medium comprising said first compound and on a second solid medium comprising a second compound, wherein each strain in said array overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of an organism and wherein said first compound and said second compound inhibit the proliferation of said organism; and comparing the pattern of strains which grow on said first solid medium with the pattern of strains which grow on said second solid medium.

28. The method of any one of Claims 26 and 27, wherein said first compound is present in a crude or partially purified state.

29. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture.

30. The method of Claim 29, wherein at least one strain in said culture does not underexpresses a gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism.

31. The method of Claim 29, wherein said strains which underexpreses said gene products comprise a nucleic acid complementary to at least a portion of a gene encoding said gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism operably linked to a regulatable promoter.

32. The method of Claim 29, wherein said strains which underexpress said gene products express an antisense nucleic acid complementary to at least a portion of a gene encoding said gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein expression of said antisense nucleic acid reduces expression of said gene product in said strain.

33. The method of Claim 29, wherein said identification step comprises determining the nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid encoding said gene product in said strain which proliferated more slowly.

34. The method of Claim 29, wherein said identification step comprises performing an amplification reaction to identify the nucleic acid encoding said gene product in said cell which proliferated more slowly.

35. The method of Claim 34, wherein the products of said amplification reaction are labeled with a detectable dye.

36. The method of Claim 29, wherein said identification step comprises performing a hybridization procedure.

37. The method of Claim 29, wherein said identification step comprises contacting a nucleic acid array with a nucleic acid encoding said gene product in said cell which proliferated more slowly.

38. The method of Claim 29, wherein said organism is selected from the group consisting of bacteria, fungi, protozoa.

39. The method of Claim 29, wherein said compound is obtained from a library of natural compounds.

40. The method of Claim 29, wherein said compound is obtained from a library of synthetic compounds.

41. The method of Claim 29, wherein said compound is present in a crude or partially purified state.

42. The method of Claim 29, further comprising determining whether said gene product in said strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture has a counterpart in at least one other organism.

43. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture.

44. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture.

45. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ
ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture.

46. A method far identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:

obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN
version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product an which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture.

47. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential fox proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2,0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5915-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture.

48. A method for identifying the gene product an which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprises a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:
3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is undexexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture.

49. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising;
obtaining a plurality of cultures, each culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism; and contacting each of said cultures with a different concentration of said compound; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain whose rate of proliferation is reduced by said compound.

50. A method of profiling a compound's activity comprising performing the method of Claim 29 an a first culture using a first compound;
performing the method of Claim 29 on a second culture using a second compound; and comparing the strains identified in said first culture to the strains identified in said second culture.

51. A method of profiling a first compound's activity comprising growing an array of strains on a first solid medium comprising said first compound and on a second solid medium comprising a second compound, wherein said array comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of an organism and wherein said first compound and said second compound inhibit the proliferation of said organism; and comparing the pattern of strains which grow on said first solid medium with the pattern of strains which grow on said second solid medium.

52. The method of any one of Claims 49 and 50, wherein said first compound is present in a crude or partially purified state.

53. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising;
obtaining a plurality of cultures comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism;
contacting each of said plurality of cultures with a varying concentration of a regulatory agent which regulates the level of expression of said gene products which are essential for proliferation of said organism ; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain whose rate of proliferation is reduced by said compound.

54. A culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism.

55. The culture of Claim 54, wherein said strains which overexpresess said gene products comprise a nucleic acid encoding said gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism operably linked to a regulatable promoter.

55. The culture of Claim 54, wherein said strains which overexpresess said gene products comprise a nucleic acid encoding said gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism operably linked to a constitutive promoter.

57. The culture of Claim 54, wherein said culture is a culture of an organism selected from the group consisting of Anaplasma marginale, Aspergillus fumigatus, Bacillus anthracis, Bacterioides fragilis Bordetella pertussis, Burkholderia cepacia, Campylobacter jejuni, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata (also called Torulopsis glabrata), Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida guilliermondii, Candida krusei, Candida kefyr (also called Candida pseudotropicalis), Candida dubliniensis, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Chlamydia trachomatus, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Coccidiodes immitis, Corynebacterium diptheriae, Cryptococcus neoformans, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Helicobacter pylori, Histoplasma capsulatum, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, Nocardia asteroides, Pasteurella haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Pneumocystis carinii, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella bongori, Salmonella cholerasuis, Salmonella entertca, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Maxarella catarrhalis, Shigella boydii, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus mutans, Treponema pallidum, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Yersinia pestis.

58. A culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 is overexpressed.

59. A culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID
NOs.:
3796-3800, 380b-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is overexpressed.

60. A culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed.

61. A culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID
NOs:
8-3795, a gene product having of least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is overexpressed.

62. A culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.:

3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS,: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is overexpressed.

63. A culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprises a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed.

64. A culture comprising a a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism.

65. The culture of Claim 64, wherein said strains which underexpress said gene products comprise a nucleic acid encoding said gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism operably linked to a regulatable promoter.

66. The culture of Claim 64, wherein said strains which underexpress said gene products comprise a nucleic acid encoding said gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism operably linked to a constitutive promoter.

67. The culture of Claim 64, wherein said culture is a culture of an organism selected from the group consisting of Anaplasma marginale, Aspergillus fumigatus, Bacillus anthracis, Bacterioides fragilis Bordetella pertussis, Burkholderia cepacia, Campylobacter jejuni, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata (also called Torulopsis glabrata), Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida guilliermondii, Candida krusei, Candida kefyr (also called Candida pseudotropicalis), Candida dubliniensis, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Chlamydia trachomatus, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Coccidiodes immitis, Corynebacterium diptheriae, Cryptococcus neoformans, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Helicobacter pylori, Histoplasma capsulatum, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, Nocardia asteroides, Pasteurella haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Pneumocystis carinii, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella bongori, Salmonella cholerasuis, Salmonella enterica, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Moxarella catarrhalis, Shigella boydii, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus mutans, Treponema pallidum, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Yersinia pestis.

68. A culture comprising a a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 is underexpressed.

69. A culture comprising a a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is underexpressed, 70. A culture comprising a a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ 177 NOs.:

3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is underexpressed.

71. A culture comprising a a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at Least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID
NOs:
8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is underexpressed.

72. A culture comprising a a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.:

3800, 3806-4860, 5916-20012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is underexpressed.

73. A culture comprising a a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprises a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25%
amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is underexpressed.

74. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the overexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

75. The method of Claim 74, wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the genes encoding an overexpressed gene product has been altered by replacing the native promoters of said genes with promoters which facilitate overexpression of said gene products.

76. The method of Claim 74, wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the genes encoding an overexpressed gene product has been altered by inserting a regulatory element into the native promoters of said genes with a promoter which facilitates overexpression of said gene products.

77. The method of Claim 76, wherein said regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a regulatable promoter, an operator which is recognized by a repressor, a nucleotide sequence which is recognized by a transcriptional activator, a transcriptional terminator, a nucleotide sequence which introduces a bend in the DNA
and an upstream activating sequence.

78. The method of Claim 74, wherein the step of identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene comprises performing an amplification reaction and detecting a unique amplification product corresponding to said gene.

79. The method of Claim 75, wherein the native promoter of each of the genes encoding a gene product essential for proliferation is replaced with the same promoter.

80. The method of Claim 75, wherein the native promoters of the genes encoding gene products essential for proliferation are replaced with a plurality of promoters selected to give a desired expression level for each gene product.

81. The method of Claim 75, wherein said promoters which replaced the native promoters in each strain comprise regulatable promoters.

82. The method of Claim 75, wherein said promoters which replaced the native promoters in each strain each strain comprise constitutive promoters.

83. The method of Claim 74, wherein said organism is selected from the group consisting of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.

84. The method of Claim 74, wherein said culture is a culture of an organism selected from the group consisting of Anaplasma marginale, Aspergillus fumigatus, Bacillus anthracis, Bacterioides fragilis Bordetella pertussis, Burkholderia cepacia, Campylobacter jejuni, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata (also called Torulopsis glabrata), Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida guilliermondii, Candida krusei, Candida kefyr (also called Candida pseudotropicalis), Candida dubliniensis, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Chlamydia trachomatus, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Coccidiodes immitis, Corynebacterium diptheriae, Cryptococcus neoformans, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Helicobacter pylori, Histoplasma capsulatum, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, Nocardia asteroides, Pasteurella haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Pneumocystis carinii, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella bongori, Salmonella cholerasuis, Salmonella enterica, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Moxarella catarrhalis, Shigella boydii, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcus epidermidis.
Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus mutans, Treponema pallidum, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Yersinia pestis.

85. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the overexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

86. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the overexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

87. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the overexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-141 10 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

88. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the overexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID
NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2,0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

89. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the overexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

90. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the overexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 591b-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3795-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 380b-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is overexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more rapidly than strains which do not overexpress said gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is overexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprises a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FABTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.; 3801-3805, 4861-S91S, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed.

91. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the underexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product an which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress the gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

92. The method of Claim 91, wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the genes encoding an underexpressed gene product has been altered by replacing the native promoters of said genes with promoters which facilitate underexpression of said gene products.

93. The method of Claim 91, wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the genes encoding an underexpressed gene product has been altered by inserting a regulatory element into the native promoters of said genes with a promoter which facilitates underexpression of said gene products.

94. The method of Claim 93, wherein said regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a regulatable promoter, an operator which is recognized by a repressor, a nucleotide sequence which is recognized by a transcriptional activator, a transcriptional terminator, a nucleotide sequence which introduces a bend in the DNA
and an upstream activating sequence.

95. The method of Claim 91, wherein the step of identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more slowly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene comprises performing an amplification reaction and detecting a unique amplification product corresponding to said gene.

96. The method of Claim 92, wherein the native promoter of each of the genes encoding a gene product essential for proliferation is replaced with the same promoter.

97. The method of Claim 92, wherein the native promoters of the genes encoding gene products essential for proliferation are replaced with a plurality of promoters selected to give a desired expression level for each gene product.

98. The method of Claim 92, wherein said promoters which replaced the native promoters in each strain comprise regulatable promoters.

99. The method of Claim 92, wherein said promoters which replaced the native promoters in each strain each strain comprise constitutive promoters.

100. The method of Claim 91, wherein said organism is selected from the group consisting of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.

101. The method of Claim 91, wherein said culture is a culture of an organism selected from the group consisting of Anaplasma marginale, Aspergillus fumigatus, Bacillus anthracis, Bacterioides fragilis Bordetella pertussis, Burkholderia cepacia, Campylobacter jejuni, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata (also called Torulopsis glabrata), Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida guilliermondii, Candida krusei, Candida kefyr (also called Candida pseudotropicalis), Candida dubliniensis, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Chlamydia trachomatus, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium difficile, Clostridium perfringens, Coccidiodes immitis, Corynebacterium diptheriae, Cryptococcus neoformans, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Helicobacter pylon, Histoplasma capsulatum, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Lisieria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, Nocardia asteroides, Pasteurella haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Pneumocystis curinii, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella bongori, Salmonella cholerasuis, Salmonella enterica, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, Moxarella catarrhalis, Shigella boydii, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus mutans, Treponema pallidum, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Yersinia pestis.

102. The method of Claim 91, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 is underexpressed.

103. A method for identifying the gene product can which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the underexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes and wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress the gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

104. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the underexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress the gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which preliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

105. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the underexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN
version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhabited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress the gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

106. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the underexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.:3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.:3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.:3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress the gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

107. A method for identifying the gene product on which a compound which inhibits proliferation of an organism acts comprising:
obtaining a culture comprising a plurality of strains wherein each strain underexpresses a different gene product which is essential for proliferation of said organism and wherein the nucleotide sequence of each of the underexpressed genes has been altered so as to include a nucleotide sequence which can be used to generate a unique product corresponding to each of the overexpressed genes, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprises a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is underexpressed;
contacting said culture with a sufficient concentration of said compound to inhibit the proliferation of strains of said organism which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts, such that strains which underexpress said gene product on which said compound acts proliferate more slowly than strains which do not underexpress the gene product on which said compound acts; and identifying the gene product which is underexpressed in a strain which proliferated more rapidly in said culture by detecting the unique product corresponding to said gene.

108. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.

109. The method of Claim 108, wherein one member of each primer pair for each of said genes is labeled with a detectable dye.

110. The method of Claim 108 wherein:
said nucleic acid sample is divided into N aliquots;
said amplification reaction is performed on each aliquot using primer pairs complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to 1/N of the genes which encode said gene products, wherein one of the members of each primer pair in each aliquot is labeled with a dye and wherein the dyes on the primers in each aliquot are distinguishable from one another.

111. The method of Claim 109, further comprising pooling the amplification products from each of the aliquots prior to determining the lengths of the amplification products.

112. The method of Claim 108, wherein the native promoters of said genes which encode said gene products have been replaced with a regulatable promoter and one of the primers in said primer pairs is complementary to a nucleotide sequence within said regulatable promoter.

113. The method of Claim 111, wherein the native promoters for each of said genes were replaced with the same regulatable promoter.

114. The method of Claim 111, wherein more than one regulatable promoter was used to replace the promoters of said genes such that some of said genes are under the control of a different regulatable promoter.

115. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:8-3795 is overexpressed or underexpressed;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.

116. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is overexpressed or underexpressed;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.

117. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed or underexpressed;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.

118. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID
NOs.:8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2,0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:8-3795 is overexpressed or underexpressed;

performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.

119. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.:3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.:3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.:3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is overexpressed or underexpressed;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.

120. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed or underexpressed;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.

121. A method far identifying the target of a compound which inhibits the proliferation of an organism comprising:
obtaining a first nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a first culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism and wherein said culture or collection of strains has been contacted with said compound;
obtaining a second nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a second culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises the same strains as said first culture or collection of strains wherein said second culture or collection of strains has not been contacted with said compound;
performing a first amplification reaction on said first nucleic acid sample using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collation of strains;
performing a second amplification reaction on said second nucleic acid sample using the same set of primer pairs used in said first amplification reaction;
and comparing the amount of each amplification product in said first amplification reaction to the amount of that amplification product in said second amplification reaction, wherein an increased level of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products and a decreased level of of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products.

122. The method of Claim 121, wherein one member of each primer pair for each of said genes is labeled with a detectable dye.

123. The method of Claim 121, wherein the native promoters of said genes which encode said gene products have been replaced with a regulatable promoter and one of the primers in said primer pairs is complementary to a nucleotide sequence within said regulatable promoter.

124. The method of Claim 121, wherein the native promoters for each of said genes were replaced with the same regulatable promoter.

125. The method of Claim 121, wherein more than one regulatable promoter was used to replace the promoters of said genes such that some of said genes are under the control of a different regulatable promoter.

126. A method for identifying the target of a compound which inhibits the proliferation of an organism comprising:
obtaining a first nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a first culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism and wherein said culture or collection of strains has been contacted with said compound;
obtaining a second nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a second culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises the same strains as said first culture or collection of strains wherein said second culture or collection of strains has not beg contacted with said compound;
performing a first amplification reaction on said first nucleic acid sample using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains;
performing a second amplification reaction on said second nucleic acid sample using the same set of primer pairs used in said first amplification reaction;
and comparing the amount of each amplification product in said first amplification reaction to the amount of that amplification product in said second amplification reaction, wherein an increased level of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products and a decreased level of of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products, wherein said first and second cultures or collection of strains comprise a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID
NOs.: 8-3795 is overexpressed or underexpressed.

127. A method for identifying the target of a compound which inhibits the proliferation of an organism comprising:
obtaining a first nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a first culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism and wherein said culture or collection of strains has been contacted with said compound;

obtaining a second nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a second culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises the same strains as said first culture or collection of strains wherein said second culture or collection of strains has not been contacted with said compound;
performing a first amplification reaction on said first nucleic acid sample using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains;
performing a second amplification reaction on said second nucleic acid sample using the same set of primer pairs used in said first amplification reaction;
and comparing the amount of each amplification product in said first amplification reaction to the amount of that amplification product in said second amplification reaction, wherein an increased level of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products and a decreased level of of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products, wherein said first and second cultures or collection of strains comprise a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is overexpressed or underexpressed.

128. A method for identifying the target of a compound which inhibits the proliferation of an organism comprising:
obtaining a first nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a first culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism and wherein said culture or collection of strains has been contacted with said compound;
obtaining a second nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a second culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises the same strains as said first culture or collection of strains wherein said second culture or collection of strains has not been contacted with said compound;
performing a first amplification reaction on said first nucleic acid sample using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains;
performing a second amplification reaction on said second nucleic acid sample using the same set of primer pairs used in said first amplification reaction;
and comparing the amount of each amplification product in said first amplification reaction to the amount of that amplification product in said second amplification reaction, wherein an increased level of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products and a decreased level of of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gee products, wherein said first and second cultures or collection of strains comprise a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed or underexpressed.

129. A method for identifying the target of a compound which inhibits the proliferation of an organism comprising:
obtaining a first nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a first culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism and wherein said culture or collection of strains has been contacted with said compound;
obtaining a second nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a second culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises the same strains as said first culture or collection of strains wherein said second culture or collection of strains has not been contacted with said compound;
performing a first amplification reaction on said first nucleic acid sample using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the gent which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains;
performing a second amplification reaction on said second nucleic acid sample using the same set of primer pairs used in said first amplification reaction;

and comparing the amount of each amplification product in said first amplification reaction to the amount of that amplification product in said second amplification reaction, wherein an increased level of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products and a decreased level of of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products, wherein said first and second cultures or collection of strains comprise a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN
version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selects from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is overexpressed or underexpressed.

130. A method for identifying the target of a compound which inhibits the proliferation of an organism comprising:
obtaining a first nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a fast culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism and wherein said culture or collection of strains has been contacted with said compound;
obtaining a second nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a second culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises the same strains as said first culture or collection of strains wherein said second culture or collection of strains has not been contacted with said compound;
performing a first amplification reaction on said first nucleic acid sample using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a Length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains;
performing a second amplification reaction on said second nucleic acid sample using the same set of primer pairs used in said first amplification reaction;
and comparing the amount of each amplification product in said first amplification reaction to the amount of that amplification product in said second amplification reaction, wherein an increased level of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products and a decreased level of of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products, wherein said first and second cultures or collection of strains comprise a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID
NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ
ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is overexpressed or underexpressed.

131. A method for identifying the target of a compound which inhibits the proliferation of an organism comprising:
obtaining a first nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a first culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains wherein each strain overexpresses or underexpresses a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism and wherein said culture or collection of strains has been contacted with said compound;
obtaining a second nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a second culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises the same strains as said first culture or collection of strains wherein said second culture or collection of strains has not been contacted with said compound;

performing a first amplification reaction on said first nucleic acid sample using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture ar collection of strains;
performing a second amplification reaction on said second nucleic acid sample using the same set of primer pairs used in said first amplification reaction;
and comparing the amount of each amplification product in said first amplification reaction to the amount of that amplification product in said second amplification reaction, wherein an increased level of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products and a decreased level of of an amplification product in said first amplification reaction relative to said second amplification reaction indicates that the gene product corresponding to said amplification product is the target of said compound if said culture or strain overexpresses said gene products, wherein said first and second culture or collection of strains comprise a strain in which a gene product comprising a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed or underexpressed.

132. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:

obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which transcribe an antisense nucleic acid complementary to a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the nucleic acids which encode said antisense nucleic acids, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.

133. The method of Claim 132, wherein one member of each primer pair for each of said genes is labeled with a detectable dye.

134. The method of Claim 132 wherein:
said nucleic acid sample is divided into N aliquots;
said amplification reaction is performed on each aliquot using primer pairs complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to 1/N of the genes which encode said gene products, wherein one of the members of each primer pair in each aliquot is labeled with a dye and wherein the dyes on the primers in each aliquot are distinguishable from one another.

135. The method of Claim 134, further comprising pooling the amplification products from each of the aliquots prior to determining the lengths of the amplification products.

136. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which transcribe an antisense nucleic acid complementary to a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the nucleic acids which encode said antisense nucleic acids, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 is overexpressed or underexpressed.

137. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which transcribe an antisense nucleic acid complementary to a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the nucleic acids which encode said antisense nucleic acids, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is overexpressed or underexpressed.
138. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which transcribe an antisense nucleic acid complementary to a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the nucleic acids which encode said antisense nucleic acids, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed or underexpressed.
139. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which transcribe an antisense nucleic acid complementary to a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the nucleic acids which encode said antisense nucleic acids, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN
version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is overexpressed or underexpressed.
140. A method far determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:

obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which transcribe an antisense nucleic acid complementary to a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the nucleic acids which encode said antisense nucleic acids, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3786-3800, 3806-4850, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4850, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is overexpressed or underexpressed.
141. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which transcribe an antisense nucleic acid complementary to a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using a set of primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the nucleic acids which encode said antisense nucleic acids, wherein the members of said set of primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product having a length distinguishable from the lengths of the amplification products from the other primer pairs if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and determining the lengths of the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5925, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed or underexpressed.
142. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which overexpress or underexpress a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein said primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product which is distinguishable from the amplification products produced by the other primer pairs on the a basis selected from the group consisting of length, detectable label and both length and detectable label if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and identifying the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction.
143. The method of Claim 142, wherein said primer pairs are divided into at least two sets, each primer pair comprises a primer which is labeled with a distinguishable dye, and the distinguishable dye used to label each set of primer pairs is distinguishable from the dye used to label the other sets of primer pairs.
144. The method of Claim 142 wherein:
said nucleic acid sample is divided into N aliquots;
said amplification reaction is performed on each aliquot using primer pairs complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to 1/N of the genes which encode said gene products, wherein one of the members of each primer pair in each aliquot is labeled with a dye and wherein the dyers on the primers in each aliquot are distinguishable from one another.
145. The method of Claim 144, further comprising pooling the amplification products from each of the aliquots prior to determining the lengths of the amplification products.
146. The method of Claim 142, wherein the native promoters of said genes which encode said gene products have been replaced with a regulatable promoter and one of the primers in said primer pairs is complementary to a nucleotide sequence within said regulatable promoter.
147. The method of Claim 146, wherein the native promoters for each of said genes were replaced with the same regulatable promoter.
148. The method of Claim 146, wherein more than one regulatable promoter was used to replace the promoters of said genes such that some of said genes are under the control of a different regulatable promoter.
149. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:

obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which overexpress or underexpress a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein said primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product which is distinguishable from the amplification products produced by the other primer pairs on the a basis selected from the group consisting of length, detectable label and both length and detectable label if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and identifying the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product whose activity or level is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 is overexpressed or underexpressed.
150. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which overexpress or underexpress a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein said primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product which is distinguishable from the amplification products produced by the other primer pairs on the a basis selected from the group consisting of length, detectable label and both length and detectable label if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and identifying the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 is overexpressed or underexpressed.
151. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture ar collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which overexpress or underexpress a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein said primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product which is distinguishable from the amplification products produced by the other primer pairs on the a basis selected from the group consisting of length, detectable label and both length and detectable label if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and identifying the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ
ID NOs.: 3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed or underexpressed.
152. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which overexpress or underexpress a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein said primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product which is distinguishable from the amplification products produced by the other primer pairs on the a basis selected from the group consisting of length, detectable label and both length and detectable label if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and identifying the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product selected from the group consisting of a gene product having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a gent product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected firm the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid having at least 70% nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN
version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleic acid encoding a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795, a gene product having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 with the default parameters to a gene product whose expression is inhibited by an antisense nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under stringent conditions, a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid which hybridizes to a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.: 8-3795 under moderate conditions, and a gene product whose activity may be complemented by the gene product whose activity is inhibited by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 8-3795 is overexpressed or underexpressed.

153. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which overexpress or underexpress a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein said primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product which is distinguishable from the amplification products produced by the other primer pairs on the a basis selected from the group consisting of length, detectable label and both length and detectable label if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and identifying the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product encoded by a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid having at least 70%
nucleotide sequence identity as determined using BLASTN version 2.0 with the default parameters to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944, a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-10012, and 14111-14944 under stringent conditions, and a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which hybridizes to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS.: 3796-3800, 3806-4860, 5916-30012, and 14111-14944 under moderate conditions is overexpressed or underexpressed.
154. A method for determining the extent to which each of a plurality of strains are present in a culture or collection of strains comprising:
obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising nucleic acids from a culture or collection of strains wherein said culture or collection of strains comprises a plurality of strains which overexpress or underexpress a different gene product which is required for proliferation of said organism;
performing an amplification reaction using primer pairs which are complementary to nucleotide sequences within or adjacent to the genes which encode said gene products, wherein said primer pairs are designed such that each primer pair would yield an amplification product which is distinguishable from the amplification products produced by the other primer pairs on the a basis selected from the group consisting of length, detectable label and both length and detectable label if a strain comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said primer pair is present in said culture or collection of strains; and identifying the amplification products obtained in said amplification reaction, wherein said culture comprises a strain in which a gene product comprising a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of a polypeptide having at least 25% amino acid identity as determined using FASTA version 3.0t78 to a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs.:
3801-3805, 4861-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 and a polypeptide whose activity may be complemented by a polypeptide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 3801-3805, 4851-5915, 10013-14110 and 14945-15778 is overexpressed or underexpressed.