Assembling the genomes of the tetraploid rose has been challenging, but PacBio HiFi reads are helping Dutch researchers overcome the hurdles. The genome of the rose is almost as complicated as its connotations when given as a gift on Valentine’s Day or other special occasions. Although relatively small in size, at 400-750 Mb, with seven chromosomes, the cells of roses have multiple sets of chromosomes beyond the basic set. And these can vary widely between the commercial varieties. Some are diploids, with two homologous copies of each chromosome (like humans, with one from the mother and one from the father),…
The team from AgriGenome and MedGenome helped assemble the genome and transcriptome of the lethal Indian Cobra (Naja naja) using PacBio long-read sequencing Snake milking, horse blood harvesting and brewing — antivenom production is still more medieval art than modern science. But a new high-quality snake genome may finally pull it into the 21st century. As recently reported in Nature Genetics, a team of scientists led by Somasekar Seshagiri, a former staff scientist at Genentech and now president of the nonprofit SciGenom Research Foundation (@SGRF_Science) in India, assembled the genome and transcriptome of the lethal Indian Cobra (Naja naja) using…
100 high-quality assemblies released by the Vertebrate Genome Project include the genome of the critically endangered vaquita porpoise With her distinctive dark eyeshadow, grey lipstick-like markings and delicate disposition, she was a natural film star. And her life certainly provided enough drama for any Hollywood blockbuster, complete with high-speed boat chases in pursuit of black market “cocaine of the sea” cartels. Unfortunately, her ending was not a happy one. But efforts by an international consortium of conservation geneticists are making sure her legacy isn’t lost. The DNA of one of the last remaining vaquita porpoises in the world has been…
Crucial assembly sites and mitosis mediators, centromeres are central to every cell, but missing from even the most complete genome assemblies. Until now. In a PLOS Biology paper, Amanda Larracuente and colleagues at the University of Rochester and Barbara G. Mellone of the University of Connecticut, described how they sequenced the repetitive regions of the fruit fly genome, including its centromeres, using SMRT Sequencing. Embedded in blocks of highly repetitive satellite DNA, centromeres have eluded efforts at assembly. Only recently, long-read single molecule sequencing technologies have made it possible to obtain assemblies of highly repetitive parts of multicellular genomes such…