The data are available using NCBI accession IDs: BioProject: (PRJNA483067), assembly: [RBJD00000000] and sequence data (SRP155659).

Additional Resources

• Interactive map showcasing global initiatives underway to generate reference-quality human genome assemblies for diverse populations
• BioReport Podcast on the value of ethnic-specific reference genomes
• Nature Reviews Genetics paper from NHGRI: Prioritizing diversity in human genomics research
• Article in The Journal of Precision Medicine: “Minority Report – Ethnic Diversity and the Real Promise for Precision Medicine”
• Article in Bio-IT World: “Genomic Data Standards Are a Necessity”
• NHGRI Project Award: High Quality Human and Non-Human Primate Genome Assemblies

More details are available on the PacBio website:

• Blog post: Data Release: Highest-Quality, Most Contiguous Individual Human Genome Assembly to Date
• Blog post: For Reference-Grade Human Genome Assemblies, SMRT Sequencing Yields Optimal Results
• Webinar:  Assembling High-Quality Human Reference Genomes for Global Populations
• FALCON-Phase press release and article preprint
• PacBio research focus webpage about Human Population Genetics

 Ref: https://stockguru.com/2018/10/08/pacific-biosciences-releases-highest-quality-most-contiguous-individual-human-genome-assembly-to-date/

RaGOO is a tool for coalescing genome assembly contigs into pseudochromosomes via minimap2 alignments to a closely related reference genome. The focus of this tool is on practicality and therefore has the following features:

1. Good performance. On a MacBook Pro using Arabidopsis data, pseudochromosome construction takes less than a minute and the whole pipeline with SV calling takes ~2 minutes.
2. Intact ordering and orienting of contigs.
3. Chimeric contig correction
4. GFF lift-over
5. Structural variant calling with and integrated version of Assemblytics
6. Confidence scores associated with the grouping, localization, and orientation for each contig.

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/malonge/RaGOO

Mitofinder is a pipeline to assemble mitochondrial genomes and annotate mitochondrial genes from trimmed read sequencing data.

MitoFinder is also designed to find and annotate mitochondrial sequences in existing genomic assemblies (generated from Hifi/PacBio/Nanopore/Illumina sequencing data...)

MitoFinder is distributed under the license.

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/RemiAllio/MitoFinder

The overarching goal of our research is to understand how to interpret complex and fascinating messages embedded in genomes.

https://www.lsugenomics.org/

What is Bacterial Comparative Genomics?

Comparative genomics involves the systematic comparison of genomes across different bacterial species or strains. This approach allows scientists to:

• Identify conserved and unique genes.

• Explore genetic determinants of pathogenicity.

• Understand bacterial evolution and phylogenetics.

• Investigate horizontal gene transfer and its role in antibiotic resistance.

Bioinformatics is central to these analyses, enabling the processing and interpretation of large-scale genomic data.

Key Steps in Bacterial Comparative Genomics

1. Genome Sequencing and Assembly: The process begins with obtaining high-quality bacterial genome sequences. Advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have made it faster and more affordable to sequence bacterial genomes. Tools such as SPAdes and Velvet are commonly used for genome assembly.

2. Genome Annotation: Annotating a genome involves identifying genes, regulatory elements, and other genomic features. Automated tools like Prokka and RAST provide functional annotations, allowing researchers to predict the roles of genes and proteins.

3. Genome Alignment: Aligning genomes is crucial for identifying conserved regions, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and structural variations. Tools like Mauve and progressiveMauve are commonly employed for whole-genome alignments.

4. Comparative Analyses:

   • Core and Pan-genome Analysis: The core genome consists of genes shared across all strains of a species, while the pan-genome includes all genes found in any strain. Software like Roary and BPGA can perform core and pan-genome analyses.

   • Phylogenetic Analysis: Comparative genomics often involves reconstructing evolutionary relationships. Tools such as MEGA and IQ-TREE facilitate phylogenetic tree construction based on genomic data.

   • Functional Enrichment Analysis: To understand the biological significance of unique or shared genes, functional enrichment analysis using databases like GO (Gene Ontology) and KEGG is essential.

Here are some additional bioinformatics tools that can aid bacterial comparative genomics:

• OrthoFinder: For accurate ortholog identification across multiple genomes.

• PanOCT: Specifically designed for pan-genome clustering and annotation.

• FASTANI: A tool for calculating Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI) for microbial genome comparisons.

• CIRCOS: For visually comparing genomic data through circular genome plots.

• Galaxy Platform: A user-friendly web-based platform offering numerous genomic analysis tools.

• BLAST: Essential for sequence alignment and similarity searches.

• PhyloSift: Focused on phylogenetic analysis of microbial genomes using marker genes.

These tools, in combination with the methods discussed, provide a robust framework for conducting comprehensive comparative genomic studies.

Applications of Bacterial Comparative Genomics

1. Understanding Pathogenicity: Comparative genomics helps identify virulence factors that distinguish pathogenic strains from non-pathogenic relatives. For instance, comparing genomes of Escherichia coli strains has revealed key genetic determinants of pathogenicity in enterohemorrhagic strains.

2. Antibiotic Resistance Research: The spread of antibiotic resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer is a major global concern. Comparative analyses can trace the origins and dissemination of resistance genes, aiding in the development of countermeasures.

3. Microbial Ecology and Evolution: By studying genomic variations, researchers can understand how bacteria adapt to different environments. This is particularly relevant for extremophiles and symbiotic bacteria.

4. Vaccine Development: Identifying conserved antigens across pathogenic strains is critical for vaccine design. Comparative genomics has been instrumental in developing vaccines against pathogens like Neisseria meningitidis.

5. Biotechnology Applications: Comparative studies can uncover unique metabolic pathways in bacteria, paving the way for applications in bioremediation, synthetic biology, and industrial microbiology.

Challenges in Bacterial Comparative Genomics

While the field has made significant strides, several challenges remain:

• Data Overload: The rapid growth of sequencing data requires robust computational infrastructure and efficient algorithms.

• Genome Plasticity: High rates of horizontal gene transfer and genome rearrangements in bacteria complicate comparative analyses.

• Annotation Accuracy: Automated annotation tools are not infallible, and manual curation is often needed for high-confidence results.

• Interpreting Non-Coding Regions: Understanding the functional significance of non-coding genomic regions remains a challenge.

Future Directions

The integration of bacterial comparative genomics with other ‘omics’ approaches—such as transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics—promises a more comprehensive understanding of bacterial biology. Additionally, advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence are likely to further enhance bioinformatics analyses, enabling the prediction of complex phenotypes from genomic data.

Conclusion

Bacterial comparative genomics, driven by bioinformatics, continues to unravel the complexities of bacterial life. From combating antibiotic resistance to uncovering the secrets of microbial evolution, this interdisciplinary field holds immense potential for addressing pressing challenges in microbiology and beyond. As technology advances, so too will our ability to harness the power of comparative genomics for scientific and societal benefit.

This is a fixed term post for 36 months.

We wish to recruit a highly motivated, postdoctoral scientist to carry out a BBSRC funded project in the laboratory of Dr. Denis Larkin. The project is focused on developing and applying new algorithms to study genome and chromosome evolution in birds, mammals and other vertebrate species using whole-genome sequences and existing algorithms. The post holder will use cutting edge computational and laboratory approaches to generate chromosomal assemblies for sequenced genomes, study chromosomal structures and genome differences between bird and other vertebrate species in attempt to identify species- and clade-specific genome signatures.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. and a track record of success, as indicated by first-author publications in international journals. They must possess excellent organisation skills and be capable of individual initiative and of interacting as part of a team. Applicants with extensive practical experience in bioinformatics or computer science, programming, visualization, handling of large data sets, high-performance computing are encouraged to apply. The post will involve collaboration with a wide range of academic partners both within the UK, EU and worldwide. In addition to leading their own project the post holder will have opportunities to contribute to multiple international genome initiatives.

Experience in programming, bioinformatics and comparative genome analysis is essential. Applicants should have a minimum of a degree and preferably a higher degree in a relevant subject.

The Royal Veterinary College has the largest range of veterinary, para-veterinary and animal science undergraduate and postgraduate courses of any veterinary school in the world and is one of the largest veterinary schools in Europe.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Dr. Denis Larkin, Comparative Biomedical Sciences Department on +442071211906 or email: dlarkin@rvc.ac.uk

We offer a generous reward package.

For further information and to apply on-line please visit our website: www.rvc.ac.uk
Job reference CBS-0025-14A

Closing date: 4 July 2014
Interviews are likely to be held in July 2014

We promote equality of opportunity and diversity within the workplace and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Current computational interests:

Systematic analysis of genetic epistasis to identify redundant or compensatory systems and to reveal order of action in genetic pathways.
Using knockout, knockdown, or overexpression, or other perturbation experiments in combinations of genes in S. cerevisiae, C. elegans or mouse.
Using genome-scale genotyping of natural polymorphisms in S. cerevisiae and human populations.
Alternative splicing and its relationship to protein interaction networks.
Integrating large-scale studies including phenotype, genetic epistasis, protein-protein and transcription-regulatory interactions and sequence patterns to quantitatively assign function to genes and guide experimentation.

More at http://llama.mshri.on.ca/index.html

Perl one-liners are small and awesome Perl programs that fit in a single line of code and they do one thing really well. These things include changing line spacing, numbering lines, doing calculations, converting and substituting text, deleting and printing certain lines, parsing logs, editing files in-place, doing statistics, carrying out system administration tasks, updating a bunch of files at once, and many more. Perl one-liners will make you the shell warrior. Anything that took you minutes to solve, will now take you seconds!

perl -pe '$\="\n"'   
#double space a file

perl -pe '$_ .= "\n" unless /^$/'
#double space a file except blank lines

perl -pe '$_.="\n"x7'
#7 space in a line.

perl -ne 'print unless /^$/'
#remove all blank lines

perl -lne 'print if length($_) < 20'
#print all lines with length less than 20.

perl -00 -pe ''
#If there are multiple spaces, delete all leaving one(make the file a single spaced file).

perl -00 -pe '$_.="\n"x4'
#Expand single blank lines into 4 consecutive blank lines

perl -pe '$_ = "$. $_"'
#Number all lines in a file

perl -pe '$_ = ++$a." $_" if /./'
#Number only non-empty lines in a file

perl -ne 'print ++$a." $_" if /./'
#Number and print only non-empty lines in a file

perl -pe '$_ = ++$a." $_" if /regex/'
#Number only lines that match a pattern

perl -ne 'print ++$a." $_" if /regex/'
#Number and print only lines that match a pattern

perl -ne 'printf "%-5d %s", $., $_ if /regex/'
#Left align lines with 5 white spaces if matches a pattern (perl -ne 'printf "%-5d %s", $., $_' : for all the lines)

perl -le 'print scalar(grep{/./}<>)'
#prints the total number of non-empty lines in a file

perl -lne '$a++ if /regex/; END {print $a+0}'
#print the total number of lines that matches the pattern

perl -alne 'print scalar @F'
#print the total number fields(words) in each line.

perl -alne '$t += @F; END { print $t}'
#Find total number of words in the file

perl -alne 'map { /regex/ && $t++ } @F; END { print $t }'
#find total number of fields that match the pattern

perl -lne '/regex/ && $t++; END { print $t }'
#Find total number of lines that match a pattern

perl -le '$n = 20; $m = 35; ($m,$n) = ($n,$m%$n) while $n; print $m'
#will calculate the GCD of two numbers.

perl -le '$a = $n = 20; $b = $m = 35; ($m,$n) = ($n,$m%$n) while $n; print $a*$b/$m'
#will calculate lcd of 20 and 35.

perl -le '$n=10; $min=5; $max=15; $, = " "; print map { int(rand($max-$min))+$min } 1..$n'
#Generates 10 random numbers between 5 and 15.

perl -le 'print map { ("a".."z",”0”..”9”)[rand 36] } 1..8'
#Generates a 8 character password from a to z and number 0 – 9.

perl -le 'print map { ("a",”t”,”g”,”c”)[rand 4] } 1..20'
#Generates a 20 nucleotide long random residue.

perl -le 'print "a"x50'
#generate a string of ‘x’ 50 character long

perl -le 'print join ", ", map { ord } split //, "hello world"'
#Will print the ascii value of the string hello world.

perl -le '@ascii = (99, 111, 100, 105, 110, 103); print pack("C*", @ascii)'
#converts ascii values into character strings.

perl -le '@odd = grep {$_ % 2 == 1} 1..100; print "@odd"'
#Generates an array of odd numbers.

perl -le '@even = grep {$_ % 2 == 0} 1..100; print "@even"'
#Generate an array of even numbers

perl -lpe 'y/A-Za-z/N-ZA-Mn-za-m/' file
#Convert the entire file into 13 characters offset(ROT13)

perl -nle 'print uc'
#Convert all text to uppercase:

perl -nle 'print lc'
#Convert text to lowercase:

perl -nle 'print ucfirst lc'
#Convert only first letter of first word to uppercas

perl -ple 'y/A-Za-z/a-zA-Z/'
#Convert upper case to lower case and vice versa

perl -ple 's/(\w+)/\u$1/g'
#Camel Casing

perl -pe 's|\n|\r\n|'
#Convert unix new lines into DOS new lines:

perl -pe 's|\r\n|\n|'
#Convert DOS newlines into unix new line

perl -pe 's|\n|\r|'
#Convert unix newlines into MAC newlines:

perl -pe '/regexp/ && s/foo/bar/'
#Substitute a foo with a bar in a line with a regexp.

Reference/Sources:

http://genomics-array.blogspot.in/2010/11/some-unixperl-oneliners-for.html

http://genomespot.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-selection-of-useful-bash-one-liners.html

http://biowize.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/command-line-magic-for-your-gene-annotations/

http://genomics-array.blogspot.com/2010/11/some-unixperl-oneliners-for.html

http://bioexpressblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/split-multi-fasta-sequence-file/