Reconstructing genetic history of Siberian and Northeastern European populations.

Siberia and Northwestern Russia are home to over 40 culturally and linguistically diverse indigenous ethnic groups, yet genetic variation and histories of peoples from this region are largely uncharacterized. We present deep whole-genome sequencing data (∼38×) from 28 individuals belonging to 14 distinct indigenous populations from that region. We combined these data sets with additional 32 modern-day and 46 ancient human genomes to reconstruct genetic histories of several indigenous Northern Eurasian populations.

Accurate, multi-kb reads resolve complex populations and detect rare microorganisms.

Accurate evaluation of microbial communities is essential for understanding global biogeochemical processes and can guide bioremediation and medical treatments. Metagenomics is most commonly used to analyze microbial diversity and metabolic potential, but assemblies of the short reads generated by current sequencing platforms may fail to recover heterogeneous strain populations and rare organisms. Here we used short (150-bp) and long (multi-kb) synthetic reads to evaluate strain heterogeneity and study microorganisms at low abundance in complex microbial communities from terrestrial sediments.

Haplotype-resolved whole-genome sequencing by contiguity-preserving transposition and combinatorial indexing.

Haplotype-resolved genome sequencing enables the accurate interpretation of medically relevant genetic variation, deep inferences regarding population history and non-invasive prediction of fetal genomes. We describe an approach for genome-wide haplotyping based on contiguity-preserving transposition (CPT-seq) and combinatorial indexing. Tn5 transposition is used to modify DNA with adaptor and index sequences while preserving contiguity.

Illumina TruSeq synthetic long-reads empower de novo assembly and resolve complex, highly-repetitive transposable elements.

High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies have revolutionized genomic analysis, including the de novo assembly of whole genomes. Nevertheless, assembly of complex genomes remains challenging, in part due to the presence of dispersed repeats which introduce ambiguity during genome reconstruction. Transposable elements (TEs) can be particularly problematic, especially for TE families exhibiting high sequence identity, high copy number, or complex genomic arrangements.

Whole-genome haplotyping using long reads and statistical methods.

The rapid growth of sequencing technologies has greatly contributed to our understanding of human genetics. Yet, despite this growth, mainstream technologies have not been fully able to resolve the diploid nature of the human genome. Here we describe statistically aided, long-read haplotyping (SLRH), a rapid, accurate method that uses a statistical algorithm to take advantage of the partially phased information contained in long genomic fragments analyzed by short-read sequencing.

Identification of a colonial chordate histocompatibility gene.

Histocompatibility is the basis by which multicellular organisms of the same species distinguish self from nonself. Relatively little is known about the mechanisms underlying histocompatibility reactions in lower organisms. Botryllus schlosseri is a colonial urochordate, a sister group of vertebrates, that exhibits a genetically determined natural transplantation reaction, whereby self-recognition between colonies leads to formation of parabionts with a common vasculature, whereas rejection occurs between incompatible colonies.

The genome sequence of the colonial chordate, Botryllus schlosseri.

Botryllus schlosseri is a colonial urochordate that follows the chordate plan of development following sexual reproduction, but invokes a stem cell-mediated budding program during subsequent rounds of asexual reproduction. As urochordates are considered to be the closest living invertebrate relatives of vertebrates, they are ideal subjects for whole genome sequence analyses. Using a novel method for high-throughput sequencing of eukaryotic genomes, we sequenced and assembled 580 Mbp of the B.

Clinical assessment incorporating a personal genome.

Background: The cost of genomic information has fallen steeply, but the clinical translation of genetic risk estimates remains unclear. We aimed to undertake an integrated analysis of a complete human genome in a clinical context.

Methods: We assessed a patient with a family history of vascular disease and early sudden death.

Single-molecule sequencing of an individual human genome.

Recent advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies have enabled order-of-magnitude improvements in both cost and throughput. Here we report the use of single-molecule methods to sequence an individual human genome. We aligned billions of 24- to 70-bp reads (32 bp average) to approximately 90% of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reference genome, with 28x average coverage.