At PAG 2017, Rockefeller University’s Erich Jarvis offered an in-depth comparison of methods for generating highly contiguous genome assemblies, using hummingbird as the basis to evaluate a number of sequencing and scaffolding technologies. Analyses include gene content, error rate, chromosome metrics, and more. Plus: a long-read look at four genes associated with vocal learning.
In this PAG 2017 presentation, Ben Matthews describes a new genome assembly for Aedes aegypti, the mosquito responsible for spreading Zika virus, yellow fever, and other infectious diseases. By using PacBio long-read sequencing, scientists produced an assembly that is much more complete and contiguous than a previous assembly; 7,500 transcripts map to the new contigs but not to the old assembly. The genome is important for designing guide RNAs for CRISPR, understanding resistance to mosquito repellants, and much more.
Rebecca Johnson, director of the Australian Museum Research Institute presents finding from de novo sequencing of the koala genome. Using PacBio sequencing the Koala Genome Consortium obtained an assembly with an N50 of 11.5 Mbp and have undertaken functional genomic analysis highlighting the unique genes associated with lactation and immune function of koalas. Johnson goes on to describe efforts to obtain a chromosome level assembly and current work using ‘super scaffolding’ to compare shared synteny across diverse lineages to generate chromosome scaffold maps.
PacBio CSO Jonas Korlach kicks off the PAG 2017 SMRT Sequencing workshop with acknowledgement of the remarkable work scientists have done with long-read sequencing technology, culminating in more than 2,000 papers so far. Also: Sequel System data, new chemistry and software release, longer libraries, and more.
At PAG 2017, Rod Wing presented five new, high-quality rice genome assemblies developed with SMRT Sequencing, including one that has eight complete chromosomes including centromeres. He also offered an early look at data generated with the Sequel System for a new assembly underway. This work is done with the goal of developing rice varieties that will be better suited to feeding a rapidly growing global population.
Richard Kuo from the Roslin Institute gave this PAG 2017 talk about using the PacBio Iso-Seq data to generate genome annotations that outperform current gold-standard annotations. Included: findings from a chicken study, the Iso-Seq pipeline, and why short reads are so problematic for understanding gene content.