Features

• Circular and linear views of genomes

• Capable of drawing genomes up to 10 Mbp with 1000's of features and 100's contigs

• Smooth zooming down to the sequence level

• Easily generate features and plots directly form the sequence (e.g. ORFs, GC-content and GC-Skew)

• Save high resolution PNG maps up to 8000x8000px

• Fully documented API for interacting with CGView.js maps

Address of the bookmark: https://js.cgview.ca/

Project Assistant (Level-II) job position in Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) on a temporary contractual basis in the research project (GAP 0469) funded by Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India, New Delhi tenable at the Lipidomics Centre, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore, Karnataka

Name of the Position :

Qualification : First class M. Sc. in Biochemistry/Microbiology/Genetics/ Bioinformatics with good academic record and preferably with experience in molecular biology techniques and basic knowledge of molecular biology and biological chemistry

Emoluments : Rs. 12,000/- per month (Consolidated)

Age Limit : The upper age limit for applying shall be 28 years (as on 22-5-2015), which is relaxed for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes/Schedule Tribes, Women, Persons with Disabilities (PWD) and OBCs as per GoI norms.

How to apply

Eligible candidates may send their complete Bio-data with e-mail address/contact phone number along with attested copies of the necessary certificates through post to Prof. Ram Rajasekharan, Lipidomics Centre, Department of Lipid Science, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore-570 020, Karnataka (email: ram@cftri.res.in) on or before 22.05.2015

More at http://www.cftri.com/pa_gap0469.html

What is Genome Assembly?

Genome assembly involves piecing together short DNA sequence reads generated by sequencing platforms (e.g., Illumina, PacBio, Oxford Nanopore) into longer, contiguous sequences called contigs. This can be performed as:

• De Novo Assembly: Without a reference genome.
• Reference-Guided Assembly: Using a reference genome to guide the assembly process.

Step 1: Preparing Your Data

Before starting the assembly, ensure that your raw sequencing data is high quality.

1. Input Data

   • Short Reads: Illumina sequencing generates short, accurate reads ideal for scaffolding.
   • Long Reads: PacBio and Nanopore sequencing provide long reads for resolving repetitive regions.

2. Quality Control (QC)
   Use tools like FastQC or MultiQC to assess the quality of your reads:

   fastqc reads.fastq multiqc .

   Look for issues like low-quality bases, adapter contamination, or overrepresented sequences.

3. Read Trimming and Filtering
   Trim low-quality bases and adapters using Trimmomatic or Cutadapt:

   trimmomatic PE reads_R1.fastq reads_R2.fastq trimmed_R1.fastq trimmed_R2.fastq \ ILLUMINACLIP:adapters.fa:2:30:10 LEADING:3 TRAILING:3 SLIDINGWINDOW:4:20 MINLEN:36

Step 2: Choosing an Assembly Strategy

Select an assembly strategy based on your data type:

• Short-Read Assemblers:

  • SPAdes: Popular for microbial genomes.
  • Velvet: Fast for smaller genomes.

• Long-Read Assemblers:

  • Canu: Ideal for long-read datasets.
  • Flye: Versatile for small and large genomes.

• Hybrid Assemblers:

  • MaSuRCA: Combines short and long reads.
  • Unicycler: Optimized for bacterial genomes.

Step 3: Running the Assembly

3.1. SPAdes (Short-Read Assembly)

SPAdes is an excellent choice for small genomes, such as bacteria.

The output includes assembled contigs (contigs.fasta) and scaffolds (scaffolds.fasta).

3.2. Canu (Long-Read Assembly)

Canu is designed for high-error long reads from PacBio or Nanopore.

The output will be in canu_output/genome.contigs.fasta.

3.3. Hybrid Assembly with Unicycler

Unicycler combines short and long reads for improved assemblies.

Step 4: Assessing Assembly Quality

After assembly, evaluate its quality using the following tools:

1. QUAST
   QUAST generates assembly statistics, such as N50, genome size, and GC content:

   quast contigs.fasta -o quast_output

2. BUSCO
   BUSCO checks genome completeness by identifying conserved genes:

   busco -i contigs.fasta -o busco_output -l fungi_odb10 -m genome

3. Assembly Graph Visualization
   Visualize assembly graphs with Bandage:

   Bandage load assembly_graph.gfa

Step 5: Post-Assembly Steps

1. Polishing
   Improve assembly accuracy using tools like Pilon (for short reads) or Racon (for long reads).

   racon long_reads.fasta mapped_reads.sam contigs.fasta > polished_contigs.fasta

2. Scaffolding
   Link contigs into scaffolds using tools like SSPACE or Opera-LG if required.

3. Annotation
   Annotate the assembled genome using Prokka for prokaryotes or Maker for eukaryotes.

   prokka --outdir annotation_output --prefix genome contigs.fasta

Step 6: Sharing and Archiving

1. Submit to Public Repositories
   Share your assembly in databases like NCBI GenBank, ENA, or DDBJ.

2. Metadata Preparation
   Include detailed metadata for your submission, such as organism name, sequencing platform, and coverage.

Best Practices

• Always perform quality checks at each stage to ensure data integrity.
• Use multiple tools to cross-validate results when working with complex genomes.
• Document parameters and software versions for reproducibility.

Conclusion

Genome assembly is a powerful process that transforms raw sequencing data into a coherent representation of an organism’s genome. By following this step-by-step guide, you can successfully assemble genomes and uncover valuable biological insights. Whether you’re assembling a microbial genome or tackling the complexities of a eukaryotic genome, these tools and strategies will set you on the path to success.

Details will be available at: http://nrcorchids.nic.in/Employments/Vacancy%20-%20JRF.pdf

Key Findings:

1. Chromosomal Fusion and Its Molecular Signature:

   • The fusion site is located at 2q13–2q14.1 and is characterized by degenerate telomeric sequences appearing interstitially, indicating the historical head-to-head joining of ancestral chromosomes.
   • Despite being a signature of a past fusion event, these telomeric repeats are no longer functional and have undergone sequence degradation over time.

2. Extensive Duplications in the Surrounding Genomic Region:

   • The study identifies large-scale segmental duplications flanking the fusion site, with several of these regions duplicated and scattered across multiple chromosomes.
   • These duplications are predominantly located in subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions, suggesting their role in genomic instability and chromosomal evolution.

3. Paralogous Regions and Their Evolutionary Relationships:

   • A 168-kilobase (kb) segment near the fusion site has 98%–99% sequence identity with three regions on chromosome 9 (9pter, 9p11.2, and 9q13).
   • Another 67-kb region distal to the fusion site shows a high degree of homology to sequences in chromosome 22qter.
   • Additionally, a 100-kb segment exhibits 96% sequence identity with a region in chromosome 2q11.2.

4. Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Implications:

   • By comparing the duplicated sequences and their arrangement in primates, the researchers traced the order of duplication events leading to their present distribution.
   • The presence of specific repetitive elements within these duplicated segments serves as evolutionary markers that help infer their historical rearrangements.
   • Some of these duplicated regions are associated with chromosomal inversion breakpoints, potentially contributing to evolutionary changes in primates.
   • Recurrent structural rearrangements in these regions have been linked to human chromosomal disorders.

Conclusions and Implications:

• The findings provide valuable insights into the structural evolution of human chromosome 2, which played a crucial role in human speciation.
• Understanding these segmental duplications and their evolutionary trajectories sheds light on genomic instability, which may contribute to human genetic diseases.
• The study highlights how large-scale chromosomal rearrangements, such as fusion and duplication, have influenced the evolutionary divergence of humans from other primates.

This research advances our understanding of human genome evolution and offers a foundation for studying the effects of structural variants in genetic disorders.

You might learn a lot about that house—the rooms, the doors, the furniture—but you would miss the bigger story: the streets, the neighborhoods, and all the ways the city changes from one place to another.

Something similar happens when scientists study bacterial genomes one at a time.

Over the past decade, researchers have collected thousands of bacterial genomes. These genomes contain an enormous amount of information about how bacteria survive, adapt, and evolve. But comparing thousands of individual genomes can quickly become a computational maze.

That is where PANORAMA enters the story.

Developed by Jérôme Arnoux and colleagues, PANORAMA is a computational tool designed to explore bacterial pangenomes—the complete collection of genetic possibilities found across a species or group of related organisms. Instead of looking at every genome as an isolated object, the approach represents their shared and variable genetic features as a graph.

Think of this graph as a giant subway map.

Some stations appear on almost every route. These represent genes that are highly conserved. Other stations appear only on certain routes, representing genes that some bacteria possess while others do not. By looking at the entire network, scientists can begin to see not just *what genes exist*, but how they are organized and how biological systems are distributed across populations.

The researchers put PANORAMA to the test using 941 genomes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium important in human health. They used the tool to investigate biological systems, including bacterial defense mechanisms against viruses known as bacteriophages. They then expanded the analysis to more than 6,000 genomes from four Enterobacteriaceae species.

The result is more than a faster way to process data.

PANORAMA allows researchers to ask a bigger question: What can an entire microbial species do, genetically speaking?

By comparing pangenomes, the researchers could identify systems shared between species as well as distinctive features. They could also find recurring genomic locations where genetic material is inserted—clues that may reveal common evolutionary processes.

And this is perhaps the most exciting part of the story.

Every bacterial genome is like a page in a huge evolutionary book. Until recently, reading thousands of those pages together was difficult. PANORAMA provides a way to turn those pages into a map, allowing scientists to see patterns that might disappear when each genome is studied separately.

The study, published in PLOS Computational Biology in July 2026, presents PANORAMA as a foundation for large-scale comparative pangenomics. The software and accompanying analysis resources are openly available, giving other researchers the opportunity to explore microbial diversity themselves.

So the story is not really about one bacterium or one genome.

It is about changing the way we look at life.

Instead of asking, “What is inside this genome?”, scientists can increasingly ask, “What is the full genetic landscape of this species—and how did it become this way?”

And sometimes, when you stop looking at one house and finally see the whole city, the most interesting discoveries are hiding in the streets between them.

Read more at https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013856

PO Box: 21

DHARAMSHALA, DISTRICT KANGRA, HIMACHAL PRADESH – 176215

EMPLOYMENT NOTICE NO.: 02 / 2015

APPOINTMENT TO VARIOUS TEACHING, NON-TEACHING AND OTHER ACADEMIC STAFF POSITIONS

Applications in the prescribed form are invited from the eligible candidates for the following Teaching, Non-Teaching and other Academic Staff positions to be filled up on regular basis: Details of teaching positions:

15. School of Life Sciences

Computational Biology & Bioinformatics

1 (ST - 1) 2 (UR - 2)

Last Date of receipt of applications: 22ND JUNE, 2015

Advertisement:

http://www.cuhimachal.ac.in/download/2015/may-2015/emp-notice-eng/1.%20Employment%20Notice%20No.%2002-2015%20dated%2019.05.2015_for%20Website.pdf

A recent study by Webster and Chapman introduces Buscogeny (https://github.com/Jwebster89/Buscogeny), an open-source bioinformatics pipeline designed to make this process easier. The tool uses BUSCO (Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs), which identifies conserved genes that are expected to occur as single copies in particular groups of organisms. These genes act like evolutionary landmarks, allowing researchers to compare genomes and investigate their relationships.

Buscogeny brings several steps of phylogenomic analysis into one workflow. It identifies BUSCO genes, extracts and aligns their sequences, removes unreliable regions, combines information from multiple genes, and uses the resulting data to construct a phylogenetic tree. It also provides quality-control information, helping researchers identify genomes that may be too incomplete for reliable analysis.

The authors demonstrate the usefulness of Buscogeny with bacterial and fungal genomes, including Alternaria. This is particularly valuable because fungal genomes can vary greatly in quality and annotation. Ultimately, Buscogeny helps transform massive amounts of genomic data into an understandable evolutionary story. Each DNA sequence becomes a clue, each conserved gene becomes a landmark, and together these clues reveal a picture of how life is connected.

More at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10123-025-00752-6?

Minimum qualifications: M.Sc. with minimum 55% for general and OBD Category (55% for SC/St/PH) in the above-mentioned subject areas (viz. Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Botany, Plant Sciences, Chemistry, Zoology, Animal Sciences, Fishery Sciences and any other relevant branches).

Preference will be given to those holding valid CSIR-UGC NET JRF. DBT-JRF, ICAR-JRF, ICMR-JRF and DST-INSPIRE Fellowship while NET/SLET/SET qualified and GATE qualified candidates (90 or above percentile) are also encouraged to apply. Reservations of seats: 15% for SC, 7.5% for ST, 27% for OBC (noncreamy layer) and 3% for Physically Handicapped as per statutory norms.

Selection Procedure: If the number of JRF and INSPIRE qualified candidates is more, selection will be based on interview of the JRF and INSPIRE qualified candidates only. The selected candidates may be registered for Ph.D. in any of the recognized Universities in India.

Application Procedure: Application should be sent in the prescribed application form (available on the IBSD website). The candidate should send the completed and signed form along with self attested copies of all supporting certificates and marksheets along with an application fee of Rs.300/- (For GEN/OBC/PH) & Rs.150/- for (SC/ST), for which a Demand Draft in favour of ‘Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, payable at Imphal, Manipur, should be attached with the application form. Candidates are advised to provide their email ID and mobile number as they would be contacted electronically by the Institute. Duly filled applications (with ‘Application for IBSD PhD Programme’ super scribed on the envelope) should be sent to ‘The Director, Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, Takyelpat, Imphal-795001, Manipur so as to reach on or before 6th of July, 2015. Applications send by email with scan copy of required enclosures will also be accepted and can be sent to director.ibsd@nic.in. However, in such instances, the application will be processed only after the receipt of the mailed hard copies.

Advertisement: http://ibsd.gov.in/jobs/phd_2015/IBSD_JRF_2015.pdf

Application Form : http://ibsd.gov.in/jobs/phd_2015/APPLICATION_FORM.pdf

Address of the bookmark: http://wego.genomics.org.cn/