Antibiotic discovery throughout the Small World Initiative: A molecular strategy to identify biosynthetic gene clusters involved in antagonistic activity
January 2017
Authors:
Elizabeth Davis, Tyler Sloan, Krista Aurelius, Angela Barbour, et al.
Info:
Through a citizen science program, college students analyzed 77 soil-derived bacteria to promote genetic characterization and antibiotic discovery for the fight against drug-resistant pathogens. They chose PacBio sequencing to sequence the whole genome of one microbe. That pipeline included BluePippin to generate 20 Kb libraries.
Citation:
Microbiology Open
DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.435
Genomic and transcriptomic resources for assassin flies including the complete genome sequence of Proctacanthus coquilletti (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae) and 16 representative transcriptomes
January 2017
Authors:
Rebecca B. Dikow, Paul B. Frandsen, Mauren Turcatel, and Torsten Dikow
Info:
Researchers at the Smithsonian Institution published a high-quality draft genome, 16 transcriptomes, and a time-calibrated phylogeny for the assassin fly. They also include bioinformatics tools to help other scientists looking to produce similar resources for organisms without a reference genome. BluePippin was used to size RNA libraries prior to Illumina sequencing.
Citation:
PeerJ 5:e2951
DOI 10.7717/peerj.2951
Pharmacologic activation of estrogen receptor β increases mitochondrial function, energy expenditure, and brown adipose tissue
January 2017
Authors:
Suriyan Ponnusamy, Quynh T. Tran, Innocence Harvey, Heather S. Smallwood, et al.
Info:
Scientists in Memphis, Tenn., studied obesity in mice, finding that estrogen receptor β and its ligands had a strong anti-obesity effect, reducing weight gain and adiposity in mice without any changes to activity levels or food intake. This could indicate a new opportunity for safe anti-obesity therapeutics in humans. For this project, Pippin Prep was used for library sizing prior to sequencing on an Ion Torrent Proton.
Citation:
The FASEB Journal vol. 31 no. 1 266-281
doi:10.1096/fj.201600787RR
Genomics-Based Marker Discovery and Diagnostic Assay Development for Wheat Blast
January 2017
Authors:
Michael L. Pieck, Amy Ruck, Mark L. Farman, Gary L. Peterson, James P. Stack, Barbara Valent, and Kerry F. Pedley
Info:
Plant researchers published this look at Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum pathotype, the pathogen responsible for wheat blast in South America. The work was motivated by concerns that the species could spread to other parts of the world, so genetic information may prove critical in efforts to detect it. They used Pippin Prep to select 500 bp fragments for sequencing.
Citation:
Plant Disease
Volume 101, Number 1, Pages 103-109
http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-04-16-0500-RE
Comprehensive evaluation of extracellular small RNA isolation methods from serum in high throughput sequencing
January 2017
Authors:
Yan Guo, Kasey Vickers, Yanhua Xiong, Shilin Zhao, Quanhu Sheng, Pan Zhang, Wanding Zhou and Charles R. Flynn
Info:
Scientists from Vanderbilt University and Van Andel Research Institute compared methods for isolating circulating extracellular small non-coding RNAs. They used five kits on samples taken from one healthy individual. RNA-seq was performed on an Illumina NextSeq 500 following size selection with Pippin Prep.
Citation:
BMC Genomics201718:50
DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-3470-z