• Question: What would be the sample size of the species you wish to sequence?

    Asked by emilyhourican to Strapwort, Spot Fly, Scottish Wildcat, Scaly Cricket, Lundy Cabbage, Glow Worm, European Flat Oyster, Eurasian Otter, Barbastelle Bat on 10 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Scaly Cricket

      Scaly Cricket answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      In principle, a small amount of tissue from just one individual could be used to construct the reference genome.

    • Photo: Glow Worm

      Glow Worm answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      One individual glow worm would be all that’s needed. By taking a female at the end of the season, when she has virtually no hope of attracting a mate with her glow, we would not be affecting the local population.

    • Photo: Eurasian Otter

      Eurasian Otter answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      For getting what we call the reference genome, we would only need a DNA sample from one single otter. This is what this project is about – sequencing one individual to sequence and put together its entire genome. This is already giving us LOTS of information.
      You’re right, however, that we would then of course add data from additional individuals to the data set. But that is cheaper than when you sequence the genome for the first time, and we have some funding already to do this.

    • Photo: Scottish Wildcat

      Scottish Wildcat answered on 12 Nov 2017:

      This competition is for a single, high quality, sample of DNA to be sequenced at sufficient depth to assemble the complete genome of one individual of the species ‘de-novo’, which means without using a reference genome. Many genomes are very similar, but contain SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) and ‘indels’ (insertions and deletions) from each other. When a reference genome for a species is not available, a closely related species can be used to align DNA sequences and compare genomes. However, some of these SNPs and indels may explain the differences between species but it is impossible to know without the full genome sequence of the species of interest.

    • Photo: Strapwort

      Strapwort answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      A few leaves should be enough to sequence one individual to construct the first ever genome of strapwort. After that, I am hoping we can sample as many individuals as possible to learn more about the genetic diversity of my population in the UK.

    • Photo: Barbastelle Bat

      Barbastelle Bat answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      Small amount of tissue or blood from a single individuals will be more than enough to sequence the barbastelle genome.

Comments