Genomic insights into the Ixodes scapularis tick vector of Lyme disease.

Ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. We describe the 2.1 Gbp nuclear genome of the tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say), which vectors pathogens that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases.

Complex patterns of genomic admixture within southern Africa.

Within-population genetic diversity is greatest within Africa, while between-population genetic diversity is directly proportional to geographic distance. The most divergent contemporary human populations include the click-speaking forager peoples of southern Africa, broadly defined as Khoesan. Both intra- (Bantu expansion) and inter-continental migration (European-driven colonization) have resulted in complex patterns of admixture between ancient geographically isolated Khoesan and more recently diverged populations.

Protein interaction data curation: the International Molecular Exchange (IMEx) consortium.

The International Molecular Exchange (IMEx) consortium is an international collaboration between major public interaction data providers to share literature-curation efforts and make a nonredundant set of protein interactions available in a single search interface on a common website (http://www.imexconsortium.org/).

Sequencing of Culex quinquefasciatus establishes a platform for mosquito comparative genomics.

Culex quinquefasciatus (the southern house mosquito) is an important mosquito vector of viruses such as West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis virus, as well as of nematodes that cause lymphatic filariasis. C.

Genome sequences of the human body louse and its primary endosymbiont provide insights into the permanent parasitic lifestyle.

As an obligatory parasite of humans, the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) is an important vector for human diseases, including epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever. Here, we present genome sequences of the body louse and its primary bacterial endosymbiont Candidatus Riesia pediculicola. The body louse has the smallest known insect genome, spanning 108 Mb.

Meeting report: a workshop on Best Practices in Genome Annotation.

Efforts to annotate the genomes of a wide variety of model organisms are currently carried out by sequencing centers, model organism databases and academic/institutional laboratories around the world. Different annotation methods and tools have been developed over time to meet the needs of biologists faced with the task of annotating biological data. While standardized methods are essential for consistent curation within each annotation group, methods and tools can differ between groups, especially when the groups are curating different organisms.

Genome sequence of Aedes aegypti, a major arbovirus vector.

We present a draft sequence of the genome of Aedes aegypti, the primary vector for yellow fever and dengue fever, which at approximately 1376 million base pairs is about 5 times the size of the genome of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. Nearly 50% of the Ae. aegypti genome consists of transposable elements.

Complete reannotation of the Arabidopsis genome: methods, tools, protocols and the final release.

Background: Since the initial publication of its complete genome sequence, Arabidopsis thaliana has become more important than ever as a model for plant research. However, the initial genome annotation was submitted by multiple centers using inconsistent methods, making the data difficult to use for many applications.

Results: Over the course of three years, TIGR has completed its effort to standardize the structural and functional annotation of the Arabidopsis genome.

Improving the Arabidopsis genome annotation using maximal transcript alignment assemblies.

The spliced alignment of expressed sequence data to genomic sequence has proven a key tool in the comprehensive annotation of genes in eukaryotic genomes. A novel algorithm was developed to assemble clusters of overlapping transcript alignments (ESTs and full-length cDNAs) into maximal alignment assemblies, thereby comprehensively incorporating all available transcript data and capturing subtle splicing variations. Complete and partial gene structures identified by this method were used to improve The Institute for Genomic Research Arabidopsis genome annotation (TIGR release v.