nf-core/mag v5 (https://github.com/nf-core/mag) addresses this challenge by extending its reproducible Nextflow-based workflow for modern genome-resolved metagenomics.

A key addition is support for long-read-only metagenomic assembly and bin refinement, enabling long-read data to be processed through an integrated workflow. The release also introduces five additional binning tools, providing complementary strategies for recovering genomes from complex microbial communities.

The workflow has also expanded beyond conventional bacterial and archaeal MAGs, with improved classification of viruses and eukaryotes, together with enhanced genome-quality assessment.

Conceptually, the workflow brings together:

Reads → QC → Assembly → Binning → Bin refinement → Taxonomic classification → MAG quality assessment

The real strength of nf-core/mag is not any single algorithm, but the integration and reproducibility of multiple tools within a standardized workflow. This is particularly important for large-scale metagenomic studies where software versions, parameters, databases and computational environments can strongly influence results.

After seven years of development involving multiple curator teams and the wider nf-core community, v5 demonstrates how community-driven workflow development can keep metagenomic analysis aligned with rapidly evolving sequencing technologies.

The future of genome-resolved metagenomics is not simply longer reads—it is better integration of assembly, binning, refinement and quality control within reproducible computational workflows.

Read the full paper in Bioinformatics https://academic.oup.com/bioinformatics/article/42/9/btag628/8770536?

To address the challenges of describing and estimating virodiversity, a team of investigators from Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) and EcoHealth Alliance began in jungles of Bangladesh - home to the flying fox.

Reference:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/mammals-harbour-at-least-320000-new-viruses/articleshow/22253268.cms

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23932400

More at http://www.cmdn.org.np/main/index.php

Now a day, geneticists have developed a language of their own. They are pouring lots of money and energy to read the entire genomic text and understand the gods own code ATGC. It is somewhat fascinating, not only for geneticist but also for non-biologist to know that there are several conserved blocks in genome which remain conserved over hundreds of millions of years. There have been several researches on conserved blocks and non-conserved regions to understand the mechanism and importance of all these regions (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2675965/). The finding indicates conservation and rearrangements of certain evolutionary important genes play an important role in evolution/adaptive changes (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v491/n7424/abs/nature11622.html https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/8/8/2442/2198198/Novel-Insights-into-Chromosome-Evolution-in-Birds , http://science.sciencemag.org/content/346/6215/1311).

But the puzzle remains open, how to correctly define the synteny (presence of two or more genes on the same chromosome) and conserved synteny (presence of two or more genes on chromosome of each of the two species) on several genomes.

Figure: Image generated with Evolution Highway (EH) tool http://eh-demo.ncsa.illinois.edu/ 

Keeping the new approach to define conserved synteny in mind there have been various algorithms developed to identify the conserved homologous synteny blocks (HSB) amongst species. Some of them which were commonly used for synteny detections are:

SyntenyTracker ( http://www-app.igb.uiuc.edu/labs/lewin/donthu/Synteny_assign/html/),

SyntenyTracker was shown to be an efficient and accurate automated tool for defining HSBs using datasets that may contain minor errors resulting from limitations in map construction methodologies.

CoGe (http://genomevolution.org/CoGe/SynFind.pl )

Satsuma (http://evomics.org/learning/genomics/satsuma/)

Cinteny (http://cinteny.cchmc.org/) ,

Cinteny server can be used for finding regions syntenic across multiple genomes and measuring the extent of genome rearrangement using reversal distance as a measure.

OrthoCluster (http://krono.act.uji.es/noticias/orthocluster-a-new-tool-for-mining-syntenic-blocks)

A new tool for mining syntenic blocks in comparative genomics

SynMap (http://genomevolution.org/wiki/index.php/SynMap),

SyMAP (http://www.symapdb.org/)

SyMAP (Synteny Mapping and Analysis Program) v4.0 is an automated system for identifying and displaying genome synteny alignments. The genomes may be represented by sequenced chromosomes (pseudomolecules), by draft sequence contigs, or by FPC physical maps (with BAC-end or marker sequence).

http://genomevolution.org/CoGe/SynMap.pl

RegionMiner (http://www.genomatix.de/online_help/help_regionminer/orthologous.html)

SyntenyMiner is being developed as an application to visualize and interrogate comparisons among multiple complete genome sequences. http://syntenyminer.sourceforge.net/

AutoGRAPH ( http://autograph.genouest.org/),

AutoGRAPH is an integrated web server for multi-species comparative genomic analysis. It is designed for constructing and visualizing synteny maps between two or three species, determination and display of macrosynteny and microsynteny relationships among species, and for highlighting evolutionary breakpoints.

SynChro(http://www.lgm.upmc.fr/CHROnicle/SynChro.html)

SynChro is a tool designed to define conserved synteny blocks. It reconstructs synteny blocks between pairwise comparison of multiple genomes. The reconstructed synteny blocks may overlap each other, be included in one another or duplicated due to micro-rearrangements.

SyntenyView ( http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/dtucourse/cookbooks/nikob/exercises/gf1_output_5.html),

Ensembl 'SyntenyView' shows conservation of large-scale gene order between species pairs. A brief summary of the calculation method appears at the bottom of this help page.  The left of a 'SyntenyView' page displays a diagram of chromosomes with blocks of conserved synteny. The right of a page shows homology matches between individual genes within syntenic blocks.

SynBrowse ( http://www.synbrowse.org/),

SynBrowse (Synteny Browser) is a generic sequence comparison tool for visualizing genome alignments both within and between species. It is intended to help scientists study and analyze synteny, homologous genes and other conserved elements between sequences. This software is useful in studying genome duplication and evolution. It can also aid in identifying uncharacterized genes, putative regulatory elements and novel structural features of study species by comparing to a well annotated reference sequence, thus enabling genome curators to refine and edit annotations of species that have incomplete genome annotations.

Sibelia (http://arxiv.org/abs/1307.7941).

A comparative genomic tool: It assists biologists in analysing the genomic variations that correlate with pathogens, or the genomic changes that help microorganisms adapt in different environments. Sibelia will also be helpful for the evolutionary and genome rearrangement studies for multiple strains of microorganisms.

GSV (http://cas-bioinfo.cas.unt.edu/gsv/homepage.php)

Genome Synteny Viewer allows users to upload files which contain synteny regions between two or more genomes and interactively visualize the synteny between them. GSV also allows users to upload annotation files to visualize annotated regions in addition to synteny regions.

MicroSyn (http://www.lgm.upmc.fr/CHROnicle/SynChro.html)

MicroSyn software as a means of detecting microsynteny in adjacent genomic regions surrounding genes in gene families. MicroSyn searches for conserved, flanking colinear homologous gene pairs between two genomic fragments to determine the relationship between two members in a gene family.

SynOrth (http://synorth.genereg.net/)

Synorth [s n ôrth], named in combination of "synteny" and "ortholog", is designed for the study of evolutionary changes of genomic regulatory blocks (GRBs) in vertebrate genomes, and especially the changes following the whole-genome duplication in teleost fish, by tracing the ortholog genes gain and loss in ancient synteny blocks.

SyDiG (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21441096)

Uncovering Synteny in Distant Genomes.

MapSynteny  (http://www.automatizacionysistemas.com/download.html)

MapSynteny is a macro in MS Excel® able to create images to show the relationship between genetic maps and large sequences (scaffolds, chromosomes, BACs, etc.). Based on tab – delimited BLAST results and some formulas, a suitable image of syntenic relationships or physical mapping can be obtained. http://www.automatizacionysistemas.com/Poster_MapSynteny.pdf

One of the best synteny tutorial for beginer @ http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/synteny-inferring-ancestral-genomes-44022

Reference:

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/synteny-inferring-ancestral-genomes-44022

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v491/n7424/full/nature11622.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synteny

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2675965/

ADVERTISEMENT NO: NITR/SR/CH-BIF/2014/30

Applications are invited on prescribed format for the following assignment in a purely time bound research project undertaken in the Department of Biotechnology & Medical Engineering of the Institute.

1. Name of the Temporary Post : Senior Research Fellow-01
2. Name of the Research Project: “ Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility (BIF)”
3. Name of the Sponsoring Agency: DBT, Government of India, 4 Tenure of the Project : 12th Five year Plan
5 Tenure of the Assignment : 01 year [Likely to be extended for 04 more years]
6 Job Description : BIF Maintenance and Active Research in Bioinformatics
7. Consolidated monthly compensation / Fellowship: Rs.18,000/- P.M.

8. Essential Qualifications and experience: B.Tech with valid GATE Score or M.Tech degree in Biotechnology/Bioinformatics/Computer Science/Computational Biology
9. Desirable Qualifications/ Experiences: Experience of Programming in PERL,R, Python, Unix and Visual Studio + Knowledge in NGS data analysis work flows ,WGS and statistical packages such as CRAN-R,MATLAB etc.

10. Accommodation : Bachelor accommodation in the Institute may be provided subject to availability.
11. For technical information on the project, the candidate may contact the Principal Investigator at the following address:

Name : Prof. Mukesh K Gupta
Address : Dept. of Biotechnology & Medical Engineering,
N.I.T.Rourkela-769 008
Telephone No : 0661-2462294
E-mail : guptam@nitrkl.ac.in

Eligible persons may apply in the prescribed format (available in the Institute Website)affixed with coloured photographs to be submitted in duplicate along with photo copies of relevant certificates, grade/ mark sheets, publications etc., to Asst. Registrar, SRICCE,
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela–769 008 before 22.08.2014. The cover should be super- scribed clearly the post applied for & Name of the Project.

Mere possession of minimum qualification does not guarantee invitation to the interview.
Candidates will be short listed based on merit and need of the project.

Advertisement:

http://www.nitrkl.ac.in/IntraWeb/Jobs_Tenders/Jobs/ProjectFellowship/2014/141707192838_1.pdf

Studentship and Traineeship in Bioinformatics

Applications are invited on plain paper from suitable candidates for Studentship and Traineeship (One each) at Bioinformatics Sub-Center as detailed below:

1. Studentship: Studentship is for those who have completed M. Sc. Degrees in Life Science.

Number of seats : One

Duration : Six months

Eligibility : Passed M.Sc. degree in Life Sciences.

Fellowship : Rs. 5000/- (Five thousand only) per month

2. Traineeship: Traineeship is for those who have completed M. Sc. Degrees in Life Science/Registered Ph. D. student in Life Sciences.

Number of seats : One

Duration : Six months

Eligibility : Passed M.Sc. degree in Life Sciences/ Registered Ph. D. student in Life Sciences

Fellowship : Rs. 5000/- (Five thousand only) per month

Preferences will be given to person who has experience in Bioinformatics and Computer
sciences. The application along with detailed bio-data should reach the undersigned, on or before 25th August 2014. Both, the studentship and the traineeship are temporary, will be discontinued after the six months from the date of Joining. It may be discontinued in-between without any notice, if the work is not found satisfactory.

Advertisement www.bioinfobubpl.nic.in/Advertisement_st.pdf

Please report new whole genome alignment tools under comment sections.

Address of the bookmark: http://www.cs.utoronto.ca/~brudno/721.full.pdf

Following are the list of journals publishing pint-sized articles go by various names, such as genome reports, genome announcements, genome notes or genome letters, but will be referred to here broadly as genome reports.

1. Genome Announcements, American Society for Microbiology, Genome announcement, Impact factor 1.3,  A 500-word report stating that the genome of a particular organism (prokaryote, eukaryote or virus) has been sequenced and providing a citable record of the corresponding GenBank submission. Must include abstract but no text headings can be used except for ‘Acknowledgments’ and ‘References’. Cannot include figures, tables or supplemental material to present data or analysis.

Link: https://mra.asm.org/

2. Genome Biology and Evolution, Oxford University Press, Genome report, Impact factor 4.2, Focused 1500-word papers (up to six tables or figures) that publish the main evolutionary message of new genome sequences as they become submitted to GenBank. May also contain specifically focused comparative analyses of previously published genomes that contain a substantial and novel insight of broadest evolutionary significance.

Link: https://academic.oup.com/gbe

3. Journal of Biotechnology, Elsevier, Genome announcement, Impact factor 2.9, A 500-word report announcing the availability of the completely annotated genome sequence of a biotechnologically relevant organism in the corresponding database (for eukaryotes, advanced draft genomes will also be considered). Articles can contain an Abstract, a brief report on the organism and its biotechnological relevance, a table summarizing the genome features, References and an Acknowledgement. Figures are generally not allowed.

Link: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-biotechnology

4. Journal of Genomics, Ivyspring, Genome note, Impact factor N/A, A 1000-word report (10 reference limit; conclusions not permitted) describing novel data sets from high-throughput analysis of genotypes, phenotypes, gene expression, metabolomes, proteomes or genome assemblies.Standard metrics for data quality and the experimental design must be clearly reported.

Link: http://www.jgenomics.com/

5. Memórias do Instituto, Oswaldo Cruz Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Genome announcement and highlight, Impact factor 1.6, Dedicated to publishing new genome information from eukaryote parasites, virus, bacteria and their respective vectors, as well as re-sequencing or comparative genome analyses. Should occupy no more than three printed pages including figures and/or tables.

Link: http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/

6. Molecular Ecology Resources, Wiley, Genomic resources note,  Impact factor 3.7, Short notes on newly assembled and annotated transcriptomes, genome fractions or whole genomes, and/or a library of SNP/SSR markers.Authors submit a short manuscript describing how the resource was developed and where the data can be accessed. Do not appear in journal as individual papers but are instead published as part of a summary article.

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17550998

7. Standards in Genomic Science, BioMed Central (Springer), Short genome report, Impact factor 3.2, Short (∼500-word) article on newly sequenced genome. Article format must follow guidelines and template (available from journal Web site) put forward by the SGS. Any manuscripts not using template or that are missing key figures, tables and/or references (as per the guidelines) will be returned to authors. Rationale of the content model is to provide information that is consistently and uniformly presented for rapid and easy consumption by both human and machine readers. 

Link: https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/

8. 3biotech, Springer, Short genome report, Impact factor 1.3, Short (∼500-word) article on newly sequenced genome. Article format must follow guidelines (available from journal Web site).  Genome of a particular organism (prokaryote, eukaryote or virus) has been sequenced and providing a citable record of the corresponding GenBank submission.

Link: https://link.springer.com/journal/13205