NEW YORK, May 7 – Elitra Pharmaceuticals on Monday announced the complete sequencing to a 10X depth of coverage of the Aspergillus fumigatus genome. The sequencing work was performed by Celera Genomics under exclusive agreement.
“Sequencing the entire Aspergillus genome is a major technical achievement, and will accelerate our efforts to characterize and file patents on essential gene drug targets in this organism,” J. Gordon Foulkes, Elitra executive vice president of research, said in a statement. “Celera's technical efficiency and professionalism in completing this sequencing project has been truly outstanding.”
A. fumigatus has approximately one third the number of genes present in humans, according to the company. The common fungus can cause life-threatening infection called aspergillus in people with compromised immune systems.
San Diego-based Elitra identifies, develops, and sells antimicrobial compounds targeted to gene products of pathogenic organisms.
The Sanger Center is also engaged in sequencing A. fumigatus .