Long noncoding RNAs associated with phenotypic severity in multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease that causes progressive neurological disability. Treatments are available that are protective against MS relapses and it is thought that reduction of early neuroinflammation may improve long term prognosis. At present there is no biomarker that can predict which patients may have a more severe disease course, and potentially benefit from more aggressive therapy.

Report from the first snake genomics and integrative biology meeting.

This report summarizes the proceedings of the 1st Snake Genomics and Integrative Biology Meeting held in Vail, CO USA, 5-8 October 2011. The meeting had over twenty registered participants, and was conducted as a single session of presentations. Goals of the meeting included coordination of genomic data collection and fostering collaborative interactions among researchers using snakes as model systems.

Sequencing three crocodilian genomes to illuminate the evolution of archosaurs and amniotes.

The International Crocodilian Genomes Working Group (ICGWG) will sequence and assemble the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) genomes. The status of these projects and our planned analyses are described.

A multi-organ transcriptome resource for the Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus).

Background: Snakes provide a unique vertebrate system for studying a diversity of extreme adaptations, including those related to development, metabolism, physiology, and venom. Despite their importance as research models, genomic resources for snakes are few. Among snakes, the Burmese python is the premier model for studying extremes of metabolic fluctuation and physiological remodelling.

Rapid identification of thousands of copperhead snake (Agkistrodon contortrix) microsatellite loci from modest amounts of 454 shotgun genome sequence.

Optimal integration of next-generation sequencing into mainstream research requires re-evaluation of how problems can be reasonably overcome and what questions can be asked. One potential application is the rapid acquisition of genomic information to identify microsatellite loci for evolutionary, population genetic and chromosome linkage mapping research on non-model and not previously sequenced organisms. Here, we report on results using high-throughput sequencing to obtain a large number of microsatellite loci from the venomous snake Agkistrodon contortrix, the copperhead.