China's BGI and Oregon State University are collaborating to sequence the genomes and transcriptomes of nine Phytophthora plant pathogens, the partners said this week.
The collaboration is part of a larger project between BGI and the Phytophthora Genus Sequencing Consortium, which aims to de novo sequence the genomes and analyze the transcriptomes of all known Phytophthora species, a total of about 150 genomes and 300 transcriptomes.
Researchers at Oregon State University will provide BGI with genomic DNA and RNA samples for the project. BGI will sequence the samples and analyze the data, including de novo genome assembly, gene calling, and functional annotation.
“We are excited to have joined forces with BGI to initiate the formation of the Phytophthora Genus Sequencing Consortium,” said Brett Tyler, who will join Oregon State in December as director of the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing from Virginia Tech’s Virginia Bioinformatics Institute.
The consortium involves researchers at academic, government, and non-profit institutions from the US, China, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, and Sweden.