BOL: Related items

gggenomes: A grammar of graphics for comparative genomics

Surabhi Chaudhary — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 14:47:32 -0600

gggenomes is a versatile graphics package for comparative genomics. It extends the popular R visualization packageggplot2 by adding dedicated plot functions for genes, syntenic regions, etc. and verbs to manipulate the plot to, for example, quickly zoom in into gene neighborhoods.

Address of the bookmark: https://github.com/thackl/gggenomes

Pevzner Lab !

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 05:39:26 -0500

The laboratory works on genome sequencing, immunoproteogenomics, antibiotics sequencing, and comparative genomics - computational technologies that enabled new applications and allowed scientists to attack biological problems that remained beyond the reach of previous techniques.

https://bioalgorithms.ucsd.edu/research4.html

MOSAIK: A Hash-Based Algorithm for Accurate Next-Generation Sequencing Short-Read Mapping

Neel — Fri, 20 May 2016 18:53:49 -0500

MOSAIK is a stable, sensitive and open-source program for mapping second and third-generation sequencing reads to a reference genome. Uniquely among current mapping tools, MOSAIK can align reads generated by all the major sequencing technologies, including Illumina, Applied Biosystems SOLiD, Roche 454, Ion Torrent and Pacific BioSciences SMRT. Indeed, MOSAIK was the only aligner to provide consistent mappings for all the generated data (sequencing technologies, low-coverage and exome) in the 1000 Genomes Project. To provide highly accurate alignments, MOSAIK employs a hash clustering strategy coupled with the Smith-Waterman algorithm. This method is well-suited to capture mismatches as well as short insertions and deletions. To support the growing interest in larger structural variant (SV) discovery, MOSAIK provides explicit support for handling known-sequence SVs, e.g. mobile element insertions (MEIs) as well as generating outputs tailored to aid in SV discovery.

Address of the bookmark: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0090581

Sequence - Evolution - Function; Computational Approaches in Comparative Genomics

Jit — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 06:58:12 -0500

Sequence - Evolution - Function is an introduction to the computational approaches that play a critical role in the emerging new branch of biology known as functional genomics. The book provides the reader with an understanding of the principles and approaches of functional genomics and of the potential and limitations of computational and experimental approaches to genome analysis.

Address of the bookmark: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20260/

CBS Comparative Microbial Genomics group - BioTools download page

Neel — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 21:59:41 -0500

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/

Postdoc in Genomics of Pipefishes and Seahorses at NSF-funded postdoctoral project in Adam Jones' Lab

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 21:22:24 -0600

An NSF-funded postdoctoral position is available in Adam Jones' Lab
at the University of Idaho to study the evolution and development of
the male's brood pouch in syngnathid fishes (seahorses, pipefishes
and seadragons). The project is being conducted in collaboration
with Dr. William Cresko's group at the University of Oregon. The
postdoc will be involved in studies of comparative genomics across
the family Syngnathidae, investigations of brood pouch morphology, and
characterization of the brood pouch microbiome. The position will be
funded for two years, with the possibility of a third year. The postdoc
will be based at the University of Idaho and will interact extensively
with the Cresko Lab at the University of Oregon.

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"

Comparative Genomics Workshops !

Rahul Nayak — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 20:39:58 -0600

This meeting's objective was to obtain a big picture look at the current state of the field of comparative genomics with a focus on commonalities across genomic investigations into humans, model organisms (both traditional and non-traditional), agricultural species, wildlife species and microbes.

https://www.genome.gov/event-calendar/perspectives-in-comparative-genomics-and-evolution

Address of the bookmark: https://www.genome.gov/event-calendar/perspectives-in-comparative-genomics-and-evolution

Unlocking Evolutionary Secrets: A Dive into Comparative Genomics Methods

LEGE — Tue, 20 May 2025 00:25:09 -0500

Comparative genomics is the art and science of comparing genomes—across species, within species, or even among individuals—to unravel evolutionary relationships, functional elements, and genetic adaptations. As sequencing technologies have advanced and genome databases have expanded, comparative genomics has become a cornerstone of modern biology, shedding light on everything from antibiotic resistance in bacteria to human disease genetics.

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.

Coronavirus Resources !

Neel — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:11:33 -0500

2019nCoVR features comprehensive integration of genomic and proteomic sequences as well as their metadata information from the GISAID, NCBI, NMDC and CNCB/NGDC. It also incorporates a wide range of relevant information including scientific literatures, news, and popular articles for science dissemination, and provides visualization functionalities for genome variation analysis results based on all collected 2019-nCoV strains.

Annotation

https://bigd.big.ac.cn/ncov/variation/annotation

Genome wharehouse

https://bigd.big.ac.cn/gwh/browse/index

Released Genome

https://bigd.big.ac.cn/ncov/release_genome

Download data

ftp://download.big.ac.cn/Genome/Viruses/Coronaviridae/

Raw data

https://bigd.big.ac.cn/gsa/browse/run/?tag=Coronaviridae

Address of the bookmark: https://bigd.big.ac.cn/ncov/about

postdoctoral fellow for a large-scale microbial comparative genomics !

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 08:44:53 -0500

Asaf Levy hiring a postdoctoral fellow for a large-scale microbial comparative genomics project at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel).
The project is a continuation of Levy Asaf et al. Nature Genetics 2018 paper.
Requirements:
1.Experience with programming in at least one programming language, preferably Python.
2.A PhD in bioinformatics/computational biology
3.At least one first authorship publication in a good journal, preferably more.
4.Good communication skills in English
5.Ability to enter and study in Israel (not applicable for Pakistani people, for example).
6.Ability to work in a team.
Please send CV to alevy@mail.huji.ac.il