he CMG-biotools system presents a stand-alone interface for comparative microbial genomics. The package is a customized operating system, based on Xubuntu 10.10, available through the open source Ubuntu project. The system can be installed on a virtual computer, allowing the user to run the system alongside any other operating system. Source codes for all programs are provided under GNU license, which makes it possible to transfer the programs to other systems if so desired. We here demonstrate the package by comparing and analyzing the diversity within the class Negativicutes, represented by 31 genomes including 10 genera. The analyses include 16S rRNA phylogeny, basic DNA and codon statistics, proteome comparisons using BLAST and graphical analyses of DNA structures.

 Paper: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0060120

Address of the bookmark: http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/biotools/CMGtools/

The University of Idaho is in Moscow, a small college town located in
Northern Idaho on the Washington border. Moscow is widely considered to
be a great place to live, and it's known for a pleasant downtown, active
farmer's market, and nearby recreational opportunities. All of Moscow
is within biking or walking distance of the University of Idaho. For
more information about Moscow, see https://visitmoscowid.com/.

The University of Idaho has very strong faculty in evolution and
genomics in multiple departments and interdisciplinary programs. Of
particular note are the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Program (BCB: https://www.uidaho.edu/sci/bcb/people/faculty) and
the Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST:
https://www.ibest.uidaho.edu/index.php). In addition, the University of
Idaho is only eight miles from Washington State University in Pullman, and
faculty from the two institutions interact and collaborate extensively.

Minimum qualifications include: a Ph.D. in biological sciences,
bioinformatics, or a related discipline; experience conducting research
in genomics or evolutionary biology, as evidenced by publications
in peer-reviewed journals; and evidence of strong written and oral
communication skills. Experience analyzing next-generation sequence
data and familiarity with the genomics of marine fishes are desirable
but not required.

Apply at: https://uidaho.peopleadmin.com/postings/30003

Review of applications will begin January 15, 2021. The start date
is flexible.

The University of Idaho is an equal opportunity/Affirmative Action/equal
access employer.

Informal inquiries are encouraged and can be directed to Adam Jones
(adamjones@uidaho.edu).

"adamjones@uidaho.edu"

In this post, we’ll explore the core methods used in comparative genomics, the questions they help answer, and how they’re shaping our understanding of life.

1. Whole-Genome Alignment
Whole-genome alignment involves mapping the entire genome of one species to another. Tools like MUMmer, MAUVE, and LASTZ perform large-scale sequence alignments to detect conserved regions, rearrangements, insertions, and deletions.

Use Case:
Comparing human and chimpanzee genomes to identify evolutionary conserved sequences (ECS) and regions of divergence.

Key Challenges:
Handling repetitive sequences and genome rearrangements.

Computational complexity in large genomes.

2. Synteny and Collinearity Analysis
Synteny refers to conserved blocks of gene order across species. Tools like MCScanX, SynMap, or CHITRA (for visualizing synteny interactively) detect these blocks to understand chromosomal evolution.

Use Case:
Studying ancient genome duplications in plants.

Investigating chromosomal rearrangements in cancer genomes.

3. Ortholog and Paralog Detection
Orthologs are genes in different species that evolved from a common ancestor, while paralogs are genes duplicated within a genome. Identifying them is crucial for functional annotation and evolutionary studies.

Popular Tools:
OrthoFinder, Orthologous MAtrix (OMA), InParanoid, and EggNOG.

Use Case:
Functional prediction of uncharacterized genes based on orthologs in model organisms.

Tracing gene family evolution.

4. Phylogenomic Analysis
Phylogenomic methods combine phylogenetics and genomics to infer evolutionary trees based on genome-wide data. These methods can handle dozens to hundreds of genomes, using concatenated alignments or gene trees.

Tools:
RAxML, IQ-TREE, ASTRAL, Phylip, BEAST.

Use Case:
Resolving the evolutionary relationships between microbial species.

Studying speciation events.

5. Pan-Genome Analysis
The pan-genome consists of the core genome (shared by all strains) and the accessory genome (strain-specific genes). This is especially popular in microbial genomics.

Tools:
Roary, Panaroo, BPGA, PGAP.

Use Case:
Understanding virulence factor diversity in E. coli.

Designing broad-spectrum vaccines.

6. Comparative Transcriptomics
Comparing transcriptomes across species or conditions reveals conserved and unique expression patterns. RNA-seq data can be mapped to reference genomes to identify orthologous expression profiles.

Use Case:
Comparing stress response in extremophiles and model species.

Studying conserved regulatory networks.

7. Functional Element Comparison
Beyond genes, comparative genomics also targets non-coding regions—enhancers, promoters, miRNAs. Conservation across species often implies functional importance.

Tools:
PhastCons, GERP, phyloP (based on multiple alignments).

Use Case:
Detecting conserved non-coding elements in vertebrates.

Studying regulatory divergence in human evolution.

8. Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) Detection
In microbes, genes often jump across species boundaries. Comparative genomics can detect HGT by identifying genes that defy the expected phylogenetic pattern.

Tools:
HGTector, DarkHorse, AlienHunter, SIGI-HMM.

Use Case:
Tracing antibiotic resistance genes.

Exploring microbial adaptability in extreme environments.

Final Thoughts
Comparative genomics is a powerful lens to observe the diversity and unity of life. With a broad toolkit—from aligners to orthology pipelines, phylogenetic engines to visualization tools—it allows scientists to ask big questions: How did genomes evolve? What makes species unique? Where do new genes come from?

Whether you're studying extremophiles, building better crops, or exploring human ancestry, comparative genomics offers the methods to connect the dots across the tree of life.

Address of the bookmark: http://www.h-invitational.jp/g-compass/

Your tasks will consist of:

Advanced bioinformatics analyses within research projects across Sweden, including key involvement in a major research effort in conifer genomics.
Development of bioinformatics tools and workflows.
Educating other scientists in bioinformatics through collaboration within supported projects, teaching at national courses, and through participating in various networks.
Taking part in the continuous development of NBIS/SciLifeLab at a national level

More at https://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/join-us/details/?positionId=518909

Compare structural and functional annotations of proteins between sequenced genomes.

1. Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) - A global effort to sequence and annotate roughly 1.5 million known eukaryotic species and create a comprehensive reference library of Earth's biodiversity.
2. Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) - Focuses on producing high-quality reference genomes for vertebrate species, providing a major foundation for the wider Tree of Life.
3. Darwin Tree of Life - A UK and Ireland initiative aiming to sequence approximately 70,000 species, creating a detailed genomic map of regional biodiversity.
4. African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) - A pan-African initiative focused on sequencing Africa's biodiversity while strengthening genomics and bioinformatics capacity across the continent.
5. European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) - A European effort to generate high-quality reference genomes for Europe's biodiversity and connect national sequencing efforts.
6. Canada BioGenome Project - Building reference genomes for Canadian biodiversity, supporting conservation, research and the study of ecosystems.
7. California Conservation Genomics Project - Uses genomics to understand and protect California's biodiversity and help inform conservation decisions.
8. Bat1K - An ambitious global effort to sequence the genomes of all known bat species, helping scientists study their evolution, longevity, immunity and unique biology.
9. Bird 10,000 (B10K) - A global project aiming to create genome resources covering the world's bird diversity and reconstruct avian evolutionary history.
10. Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA) - Builds genomic resources for the enormous and genetically diverse world of invertebrates.
11. GenomeIndia - India's national human-genome initiative, designed to capture the country's extraordinary population diversity and create a reference resource for Indian genomics.
12. All of Us Research Program - A US national research program combining genomic information with health and lifestyle data at population scale.
13. 1+ Million Genomes / Genome of Europe - A European effort to enable secure, cross-border use of genomic and health data and develop genome-scale resources involving more than one million people.
14. Korea National Integrated Bio Big Data Project - South Korea's large-scale national effort combining genomic and health information from a very large population cohort.
15. Saudi Genome Program - A national genomics initiative focused on genetic diseases, population genomics and precision medicine in Saudi Arabia.
16. Australian Genomics / Genomics Health Futures Mission - Australia's growing investment in genomic medicine, rare disease research and population-scale health genomics.

Analysis of regulatory sequences (RSAT project)
Classification and analysis of mobile genetic elements (ACLAME project).
Analysis of molecular interaction networks (NeAT project)
Inference of metabolic pathways from genomic and post-genomic data
(metabolic pathfinding, see also metabolic pathfinding in NeAT)
Critical assesment of protein interactions (CAPRI)

Lab Page http://www.bigre.ulb.ac.be/

More at http://www.babraham.ac.uk/our-research/nuclear-dynamics/

• exteremely fast (17 CPU hours for whole Human x Mouse genome (with 40 nodes: 35 wall minutes), or 8 mammals in 21 CPU hours (42 wall minutes))
• scalable (Arbitrarily parallelizable across multiple nodes using MPI)
• memory efficient. (Even a single node with 16GB of ram can handle over 1Gbp of sequence)
• unlimited by pattern length or selection
• repeat tolerant

Address of the bookmark: http://murasaki.dna.bio.keio.ac.jp/wiki/index.php?Murasaki