BOL: Related items

The Home Microbiome Project

Tue, 02 Sep 2014 15:21:49 -0500

The Home Microbiome Project is an initiative aimed at uncovering the dynamic co-associations between people's bacteria and the bacteria found in their homes.The hope is that the data and project will show that routine monitoring of the microbial diversity of your body and of the environment in which you live is possible. Computer animation courtesy the Biology & Built Environment (BioBE) Center, University of Oregon and Cameron Slayden at Cosmocyte. http://vimeo.com/90059732 BioBE on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/user22991553

DAGchainer: Computing Chains of Syntenic Genes in Complete Genomes

Abhimanyu Singh — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 16:13:35 -0600

The DAGchainer software computes chains of syntenic genes found within complete genome sequences. As input, DAGchainer accepts a list of gene pairs with sequence homology along with their genome coordinates. Using a scoring function which accounts for the distance between neighboring genes on each DNA molecule and the BLAST E-value score between homologs, maximally scoring chains of ordered gene pairs are computed and reported. This algorithm can be used to mine large evolutionary conserved regions of genomes between two organisms. Alternatively, by examining colinear sets of homologous genes found within a single genome, segmental genome duplications can be revealed.

This software distribution includes both the DAGchainer utility and a Java-based graphical interface that allows the inputs and outputs to be navigated and interrogated dynamically.

Address of the bookmark: http://dagchainer.sourceforge.net/

CGView - Circular Genome Viewer

Rahul Nayak — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 10:15:57 -0500

CGView is a Java package for generating high quality, zoomable maps of circular genomes. Its primary purpose is to serve as a component of sequence annotation pipelines, as a means of generating visual output suitable for the web. Feature information and rendering options are supplied to the program using an XML file, a tab delimited file, or an NCBI ptt file. CGView converts the input into a graphical map (PNG, JPG, or Scalable Vector Graphics format), complete with labels, a title, legends, and footnotes. In addition to the default full view map, the program can generate a series of hyperlinked maps showing expanded views. The linked maps can be explored using any web browser, allowing rapid genome browsing, and facilitating data sharing. The feature labels in maps can be hyperlinked to external resources, allowing CGView maps to be integrated with existing web site content or databases. For examples of the various output types, see the CGView gallery. http://wishart.biology.ualberta.ca/cgview/gallery.html http://stothard.afns.ualberta.ca/downloads/CCT/index.html https://www.gview.ca/wiki/GView/WebHome https://server.gview.ca/ http://stothard.afns.ualberta.ca/cgview_server/ Paper https://academic.oup.com/bib/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bib/bbx081/4037458

Address of the bookmark: http://wishart.biology.ualberta.ca/cgview/

ConPADE: Genome Assembly Ploidy Estimation from Next-Generation Sequencing Data

Jit — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 04:55:41 -0600

ConPADE (Contig Ploidy and Allele Dosage Estimation), a probabilistic method that estimates the ploidy of any given contig/scaffold based on its allele proportions. In the process, they report findings regarding errors in sequencing. The method can be used for whole genome shotgun (WGS) sequencing data. They also show applicability of the method for variant calling and allele dosage estimation. Results for simulated and real datasets are discussed and provide evidence that ConPADE performs well as long as enough sequencing coverage is available, or the true contig ploidy is low.

https://github.com/microsoftgenomics

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/microsoftgenomics

GeneMates: an R package for Detecting Horizontal Gene Co-transfer between Bacteria Using Gene-gene Associations Controlled for Population Structure

Rahul Nayak — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 05:52:20 -0600

GeneMates is an R package implementing a network approach to identify horizontal gene co-transfer (HGcoT) between bacteria using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data. It is particularly useful for investigating intra-species HGcoT, where presence-absence status of acquired genes is usually confounded by bacterial population structure due to clonal reproduction.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.29.970970v1

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/wanyuac/GeneMates

PBSuite: Software for Long-Read Sequencing Data from PacBio

Jit — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 09:54:47 -0600

PBJelly - the genome upgrading tool.
PBHoney - the structural variation discovery tool

Both are contained within the PBSuite code found in downloads.

----- PBJelly -----
Read The Paper
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0047768

PBJelly is a highly automated pipeline that aligns long sequencing reads (such as PacBio RS reads or long 454 reads in fasta format) to high-confidence draft assembles. PBJelly fills or reduces as many captured gaps as possible to produce upgraded draft genomes.

----- PBHoney -----
Read The Paper
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2105/15/180/abstract

PBHoney is an implementation of two variant-identification approaches designed to exploit the high mappability of long reads (i.e., greater than 10,000 bp). PBHoney considers both intra-read discordance and soft-clipped tails of long reads to identify structural variants.

Address of the bookmark: https://sourceforge.net/projects/pb-jelly/

HiBC: Human Intestinal Bacteria Collection

BioStar — Wed, 07 May 2025 05:49:19 -0500

The human gut is home to trillions of microorganisms, forming one of the most complex and dynamic microbial ecosystems known to science. The Human Intestinal Bacteria Collection (HiBC) is a pioneering initiative aimed at cataloging, preserving, and studying the diverse bacterial species that inhabit the human gastrointestinal tract. This curated collection serves as a critical resource for researchers working on microbiome-related health, disease, and therapeutics.

What is HiBC?

The Human Intestinal Bacteria Collection (HiBC) is a comprehensive, high-quality reference repository of bacterial isolates derived from human fecal samples. It focuses on anaerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria that play pivotal roles in digestion, immune modulation, vitamin synthesis, and pathogen resistance. The collection includes both culturable strains and genomic data from unculturable taxa, bridging the gap between culture-dependent and -independent microbiome studies.

Why is HiBC Important?

Understanding Microbiome-Host Interactions
HiBC enables deeper insight into the functions of specific bacterial taxa in the gut. With well-characterized isolates, researchers can conduct mechanistic studies to explore how certain bacteria influence metabolism, inflammation, or mental health.
Precision Probiotics and Therapeutics
By providing access to native human gut microbes, HiBC supports the development of next-generation probiotics, live biotherapeutic products (LBPs), and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) alternatives.
Standardization and Reproducibility
With standardized cultivation and genomic protocols, HiBC ensures consistency across microbiome research studies, improving reproducibility and comparability of findings.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Surveillance
HiBC includes metadata on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), helping track the spread of AMR in commensal gut bacteria and understanding its implications for human health.

Key Features of HiBC

Culturable Bacteria Repository: A living collection of anaerobic and facultative strains isolated from healthy and diseased individuals worldwide.
Metadata-rich Entries: Each isolate is annotated with host details (age, health status, diet), geographical origin, phenotypic traits, and antibiotic susceptibility profiles.
Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS): High-quality genome assemblies for most strains to support functional and comparative genomics.
Interactive Database Access: User-friendly search and filtering options for strain selection based on taxonomy, function, or clinical relevance.
Cross-linking with Other Databases: Integration with NCBI, GOLD, and Human Microbiome Project (HMP) data for broader context and validation.

Applications of HiBC

Microbiome-based diagnostics and biomarker discovery
Host-microbe interaction studies in gnotobiotic mouse models
Gut microbiome modulation through diet, drugs, or engineered bacteria
Longitudinal studies of gut flora across age, geography, and lifestyle
Environmental and evolutionary microbiology of human-associated bacteria

Accessing HiBC

Researchers and interested parties can explore the HiBC database through its official website: https://www.hibc.rwth-aachen.de/. The platform offers comprehensive information on bacterial isolates, including taxonomy, cultivation conditions, and genomic data, facilitating advanced research in human gut microbiome studies.

Final Thoughts

The HiBC is a cornerstone resource in the rapidly evolving field of microbiome research. As science moves toward personalized medicine and microbial therapeutics, having a reliable and diverse collection of human gut bacteria is not just useful — it's essential. Whether you're a microbiologist, clinician, computational biologist, or biotechnologist, HiBC offers tools to accelerate discovery and innovation in gut microbiome science.

MyCC: Accurate binning of metagenomic contigs via automated clustering sequences using information of genomic signatures and marker genes

Jit — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 08:34:23 -0600

MyCC, an automated binning tool that combines genomic signatures, marker genes and optional contig coverages within one or multiple samples, in order to visualize the metagenomes and to identify the reconstructed genomic fragments.

More at http://www.nature.com/articles/srep24175

Address of the bookmark: https://sourceforge.net/projects/sb2nhri/files/MyCC/

Zombies like bacteria!!!

Rahul Agarwal — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 08:44:15 -0500

Do you believe in Zombies stories … Hmm confused? Don’t worry there is a news for you. Scientists from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program have announced the findings of the long-lived bacteria, reproducing only once every 10,000 years, which have been found in rocks 2.5km (1.5 miles) below the ocean floor that are as much as 100 million years old.

" the microbes exist in very low concentrations, of around 1,000 microbes in every tea spoon full of rock, compared with billions or trillions of bacteria that would typically be found in the same amount of soil at Earth's surface."

Reference:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23855436

MaxBin: software for binning assembled metagenomic sequences based on an Expectation-Maximization algorithm.

Jit — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 04:03:38 -0600

MaxBin is software for binning assembled metagenomic sequences based on an Expectation-Maximization algorithm. Users can understand the underlying bins (genomes) of the microbes in their metagenomes by simply providing assembled metagenomic sequences and the reads coverage information or sequencing reads. For users' convenience MaxBin will report genome-related statistics, including estimated completeness, GC content and genome size in the binning summary page.

Users can use MEGAN or similar software on MaxBin bins to find the taxonomy of each bin after the binning process is finished.

https://academic.oup.com/bioinformatics/article/32/4/605/1744462/MaxBin-2-0-an-automated-binning-algorithm-to

The most recent version of MaxBin is 2.2, which supports the analysis of coassemblies of multiple samples. It is available at this JBEI downloads sites as well as MaxBin and MaxBin 2.0 sourceforge sites.

Address of the bookmark: http://downloads.jbei.org/data/microbial_communities/MaxBin/MaxBin.html