In this presentation, Andrew Clark from Cornell University describes work from a collaboration with Manyuan Long of the University of Chicago and Rod Wing of the University of Arizona to look at heterochromatic regions with long simple satellite repeats in drosophila genomes. The group used PacBio sequencing to create new genome assemblies of 10 drosophila species, including de novo assemblies of two individual flies using as little as 26 ng of gDNA.
In this presentation, Sonja Vernes of the Max Plank Institute shares her work with the Bat1K project which aims to catalog the genetic diversity of all living bat species. She highlights the unique biology of bats, from their widely varying sizes to their capacity for healthy aging and disease resistance and provides recent findings from ongoing efforts to sequence and annotate the genomes of 21 phylogenetic families of bats.
In this presentation, Elizabeth Tseng explains how PacBio’s full-length RNA Sequencing using the Iso-Seq method can characterize full-length transcripts without the need for computational transcript assembly. The Iso-Seq method is fully supported bioinformatically through PacBio’s SMRT Analysis software that outputs high-quality, full-length transcript sequences that can be used for genome annotation and novel gene discovery. Elizabeth shows that the highly accurate reads can be used to discover allelic-specific isoform expressions in transcriptome data.
To make improvements to crops like corn, soybeans, and canola, scientists at Corteva are building a compendium of crop genomics resources to provide actionable sequence info for genetic discovery, gene-editing, and seed product development. Hear how Kevin Fengler, Comparative Genomics Lead of Data Science and Bioinformatics at Corteva, is using PacBio sequences to build visualization tools and genome assembly pipelines as a contribution to this effort.
In this presentation at PAG 2020, Bart Nijland of Genetwister Technologies explains how his team set out to make a haplotype-aware assembly of the highly complex tetraploid Rosa x hybrida L. genome in order to capture its full range of genetic variation. HiFi reads generated from PacBio’s Sequel II System have made it possible to parse out critical information from many of the plant’s parental genes.
Mark Blaxter, project lead of the Sanger Institute’s Darwin Tree of Life, shared an update of the ambitious effort to sequence all 60,000 species believed to be on the British Isles over the next 12 years in this presentation at the PAG 2020 Conference. The Sanger team has already generated data for 94 species, including 44 new moth and butterfly (Lepidoptera) PacBio assemblies, which Blaxter describes in this presentation.
During a PAG 2020 workshop, Zev Kronenberg, a senior bioinformatics engineer at PacBio, describes how he used the PacBio Iso-Seq transcriptome sequencing and analysis method to annotate great ape genomes, detangle several complicated loci, and enrich our biological understanding of the differences between apes and humans.
Jana U’Ren of the University of Arizona discusses the fungi that live inside of plants at a PacBio workshop at the PAG 2020 conference. U’Ren studies the biology and evolution of mycorrhizal fungi found in the photosynthetic tissue of plant leaves, which are grouped together functionally as endophytes. In this video, she shares some of her preliminary findings collecting and analyzing samples from Boreal forests around the world.
In this introductory talk to our PAG 2020 workshop, PacBio Chief Scientific Officer Jonas Korlach presents the evolution of Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) Sequencing technology over the past decade and highlights recent developments, including the Sequel II System performance and reliability
Allen Van Deynze from UC Davis presents the genome sequencing and assembly project for spinach, an organism of 980 Mb. Results indicate a high-accuracy assembly with significantly higher N50 contig length than a previous short-read assembly. The PacBio assembly has allowed for filling gaps in the prior assembly.
In this talk at PAG 2020, PacBio Plant and Animal Sciences Marketing Manager Michelle Vierra discusses recent updates to Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT) Sequencing technology, including the Sequel II System, updated protocols for low-input as well as other upcoming developments.
From USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, molecular biologist Sean Gordon discusses the need for long-read sequencing to map an organism’s transcriptome. His team analyzed the wood-decaying fungus Plicaturopsis crispa first with short reads and found that they were missing exons and other important information. They switched to SMRT Sequencing so they could observe, rather than infer, full-length transcripts.
Tim Smith of the USDA presents his work to establish a high-quality reference genome of the San Clemente goat. After generating 70-fold PacBio sequence data, the PacBio assembly proved to be far more complete than the existing draft reference genome, with contigs extending 100 times longer on average.
Shane Brubaker from renewable oil manufacturer Solazyme reports using the PacBio system to sequence the genome of a GC-rich strain of algae that couldn’t be fully assembled with short-read sequence data. He notes that CCS reads exceed Sanger quality at significantly lower cost.
Robert VanBuren of the Danforth Plant Science Center and winner of the 2014 SMRT Grant Program presents a de novo assembly of the Oro grass genome (Oropetium thomaeum). The reference genome will aid scientist studying drought tolerance in common crop species, especially cereals, though comparative genomics to understand potential key genetic underpinnings for this “resurrection” trait. Initial comparative results to Brachypodium and maize are presented, as well as secondary analysis to identify key metabolic traits.