(Press-News.org) March 25, 2013, Shenzhen, China - In a collaborative study published online in Nature Genetics, researchers from Cardiff University, BGI, International Wildlife Consultants, Ltd., and Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, have completed the genome sequencing and analysis of two iconic falcons, the peregrine (Falco peregrinus) and saker (Falco cherrug). The work provides an invaluable resource for the deep understanding of the adaptive evolution in raptors and the genetic basis of their wide distribution.
Peregrine and saker falcons are widespread, and their unique morphological, physiological and behavioral adaptations make them successful hunters. The peregrine is renowned as the world's fastest animal, and the falcon is the national emblem of United Arab Emirate. In recent decades, peregrine and saker falcons have been listed as endangered due to rapid population declines caused by a wide range of factors including environmental change, overharvesting for falconry, habitat loss and bioaccumulation of pesticides (e.g. DDT, PCBs).
In this study, researchers focused on the evolutionary basis of predatory adaptations underlying peregrine and saker. They conducted whole genome sequencing and assembled the high quality ~1.2 Gb reference genomes for each falcon species. Phylogenic analysis suggested that the two falcon species might diverged 2.1 million years ago.
Comparing with chicken and zebra finch, researchers found the transposable element composition of falcons was most similar to that of zebra finch. Large segmental duplications in falcons are less frequent than that in chicken and zebra finch, and comprise less than 1% of both falcon genomes. They also found that a gene expansion in the olfactory receptor γ-c clade in chicken and zebra finch is not present in falcons, possibly reflecting their reliance on vision for locating prey.
Observing genome-wide rapid evolution for both falcons, chicken, zebra finch and turkey, researchers found that the nervous system, olfaction and sodium ion trans-port have evolved rapidly in falcons, and also the evolutionary novelties in beak development related genes of falcons and saker-unique arid-adaptation related genes.
Shenkai Pan, bioinformatics expert from BGI, said, "The two falcon genomes are the first predatory bird genome published. The data presented in this study will advance our understanding of the adaptive evolution of raptors as well as aid the conservation of endangered falcon species."
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About BGI
BGI was founded in Beijing, China, in 1999 with the mission to become a premier scientific partner for the global research community. The goal of BGI is to make leading-edge genomic science highly accessible, which it achieves through its investment in infrastructure, leveraging the best available technology, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI, which includes both private non-profit genomic research institutes and sequencing application commercial units, and its affiliates, BGI Americas, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, and BGI Europe, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, supporting a variety of disease, agricultural, environmental, and related applications.
BGI has a proven track record of excellence, delivering results with high efficiency and accuracy for innovative, high-profile research: research that has generated over 200 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. BGI's many accomplishments include: sequencing one percent of the human genome for the International Human Genome Project, contributing 10 percent to the International Human HapMap Project, carrying out research to combat SARS and the 2011 German deadly E. coli outbreak, playing a key role in the Sino-British Chicken Genome Project, and completing the sequence of the rice genome, the silkworm genome, the first Asian diploid genome, the potato genome, and, more recently, the human Gut Metagenome, as well as a significant proportion of the genomes for the1000 Genomes Project.
For more information, please visit http://www.genomics.cn
Contact Information
Bicheng Yang, Ph.D. Public Communication Officer BGI +86-755-82639701 yangbicheng@genomics.cn http://www.genomics.cn
Exploring the cause of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy
Dravet syndrome (DS) is a form of infantile-onset, treatment-resistant epilepsy that is caused by a mutation in the gene encoding a voltage-gated sodium channel, SCN1A. DS patients have a 30-fold increased risk of dying from sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP) compared to patients with other forms of pediatric-onset epilepsy. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Franck Kalume and colleagues at the University of Washington characterized SUDEP in a mouse model of DS. Observation using ...
Dravet syndrome (DS) is a form of infantile-onset, treatment-resistant epilepsy that is caused by a mutation in the gene encoding a voltage-gated sodium channel, SCN1A. DS patients have a 30-fold increased risk of dying from sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP) compared to patients with other forms of pediatric-onset epilepsy. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Franck Kalume and colleagues at the University of Washington characterized SUDEP in a mouse model of DS. Observation using video, electroencephalography, and electrocardiography revealed ...
Reverse cholesterol transport is a process in which accumulated cholesterol is removed from tissues, including the artery wall, and transported back to the liver for excretion. Little is known about how cholesterol is removed from peripheral tissues, but a better understanding of these mechanisms could help in the development of therapies that treat atherosclerosis and other cholesterol-related disorders. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Gwendalyn Randolph and colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis examined the role of ...
HEIDELBERG, 25 March 2013 – Researchers have used whole genome sequencing to reveal if drug-resistant bacteria are transmitted from animals to humans in two disease outbreaks that occurred on different farms in Denmark. The results, which are published today in EMBO Molecular Medicine, confirm animal-to-human transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a disease-causing bacterium that carries the recently described mecC gene. The mecC gene is responsible for resistance to the penicillin-like antibiotic methicillin.
Drug-resistant bacterial infections ...
SAN DIEGO - The same sort of mathematical model used to predict which websites people are most apt to visit is now showing promise in helping map how lung cancer spreads in the human body, according to a new study published in the journal Cancer Research.
A team of researchers used an algorithm similar to the Google PageRank and to the Viterbi Algorithm for digital communication to analyze the spread patterns of lung cancer. The team includes experts from the University of Southern California (USC), Scripps Clinic, The Scripps Research Institute, University of California, ...
EAST LANSING, Mich. — In the wake of President Obama's "college scorecard," new research finds that government attempts to grade educational institutions can backfire when done for political or policy purposes.
Rebecca Jacobsen of Michigan State University studied the effects of publicizing performance data for K-12 schools, which was mandated by No Child Left Behind in 2001. While Jacobsen believes school report cards are warranted to keep the public informed, she said too often the information presented is unclear or misleading to parents and can ultimately erode trust ...
In a breakthrough that could one day yield important clues about the nature of matter itself, a team of Harvard scientists have succeeding in measuring the magnetic charge of single particles of matter and antimatter more accurately than ever before.
As described in a March 25 paper in Physical Review Letters, the ATRAP team, led by Gerald Gabrielse, the George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Physics, and including post-doctoral fellows Stephan Ettenauer and Eric Tardiff and graduate students Jack DiSciacca, Mason Marshall, Kathryn Marable and Rita Kalra was able to capture ...
A new UBC study reveals that North American service workers are more likely to sabotage rude customers, while Chinese react by disengaging from customer service altogether.
"Our research shows that culture plays a significant role in how frontline workers deal with customer abuse," says UBC Sauder School of Business Professor Daniel Skarlicki, a co-author of the study.
"In North America, employees tend to retaliate against offensive customers – doing things like giving bad directions or serving cold food. In China, workers are more likely to reduce the general quality ...
When it comes to posting on social media, there are few areas of our lives that are off limits.
We post about eating, working, playing, hunting, quilting – you name it. Just about everything is up for public consumption … except our health.
A new study from BYU finds that while most of us go online regularly for help in diagnosing health issues, very few of us actually post information, questions or experiences on health topics.
"Less than 15 percent of us are posting the health information that most of us are consuming," said Rosemary Thackeray, BYU professor of ...
The first multi-gene DNA sequencing test that can help predict cancer patients' responses to treatment has been launched in the National Health Service (NHS), thanks to a partnership between scientists at the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The test uses the latest DNA sequencing techniques to detect mutations across 46 genes that may be driving cancer growth in patients with solid tumours. The presence of a mutation in a gene can potentially determine which treatment a patient should receive.
The researchers say the number of genes ...
