Software and Server for Taxonomic Binning of Metagenomic Sequences
Start Date: April 15, 2009
Expires: March 31, 2010
Awarded Amount to Date: $315,723
Principal Investigator: Andrey Tovchigrechko
Sponsor: J. Craig Venter Institute
Supports the development of MGTAXA, a freely available software and a web server for taxonomic classification of metagenomic sequences with machine learning techniques. The project will build three major components: a toolbox for reliable assignment of species composition to large collections of unassembled environmental sequencing data, with automated and regular updates of databases and models; a public web server with a high-performance computational back end that will let a wide community of biologists build classification models specific to their metagenomic samples; and an online instructional environment where students and educators can combine several machine learning algorithms into graphically represented pipelines, apply them to sequences from annotated genomes, and contribute to the reusable repository of exercises and small research projects.
Complete Genome Sequencing of Four Nitrogen-fixing, Plant-associated Burkholderias
Start Date: Sept. 1, 2008
Expires: Sept. 30, 2009
Awarded Amount to Date: $304,444
Principal Investigator: George Weinstock
Sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine
The project will produce genome sequences for four plant-associated Burkholderia species: B. sp. PVA5, B. tuberum STM-678T, B. unamae MtI-641T, and B. sp. SRMrh-20. Pyrosequencing will be used to analyze the 7 million base pairs of each of these genomes. From these data, researchers will compile a complete description of the genes contained in each bacterium, analyze them for physiological mechanisms for nitrogen fixation, and compare them to other nitrogen-fixing bacteria, particularly the phylogenetically distinct rhizobia.