Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Past genome sequencing facilitates additional species

The International Conference on the Status of Plant and Animal Genome Research has been held annually at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego since 1993, and during the 26th annual conference, Jan. 13-17, the Jan. 14 session on plant and animal paleogenomics included a presentation noting that completion of past genome sequencing facilitates genomic sequencing for other species.

Tao Zhao of Wageningen University in The Netherlands presented “Comparative Analysis of Mammal and Angiosperm Phylogenomic Synteny Networks” during the workshop.

“Over the last two decades we have sequenced so many genomes,” Zhao said. “Sequencing of genomes is much faster, much better and much cheaper.”

Much of that improvement is due to sequencing technology, but an enhanced database also facilitates improved sequencing.

“We already have some kind of abundant data to work on,” Zhao said.

The ability to compare two species allows a determination of gene conservation which can also be used for subsequent sequencing.

“We rely on pair-wise comparisons,” Zhao said. “We do have exceptions like the octopus genome.”

If two genes in separate species are similar to each other, they could be part of a cluster, which can also provide information about the broader genome.

The earliest species whose genomes were sequenced were for the most part staple crops such as rice and barley and food animals such as cattle, swine, poultry and fish. The equine genome was also studied early due to the horse’s importance as a work animal both for agricultural activity and for sport. An exception to the utility-based priority was the Arabidopsis plant, which was sequenced early due to the simplicity of the Arabidopsis genome.

The completion of genome sequencing of many species has allowed for applications such as identifying genes which cause disease or injury susceptibility or tolerance, yield, climate stress tolerance and taste. The database of earlier-sequenced genomes has allowed for sequencing of more recreational-based animals and non-staple crops.

In 2007, a presentation on the cacao genome was part of the Fruit and Nuts workshop, and since 2009 a separate session has been devoted to cacao. The first cat and dog workshop was in 2015. The endangered status of rhinoceros species led to the first rhinoceros genome workshop in 2017. Approximately 20 new workshops have been added in the past two years.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

Reader Comments(0)