Genome Project Solutions

This project to perform light coverage on the 284 MB genome of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) was initiated and funded by Steve Reppert of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Jeffrey Boore has been P.I. on the genome sequencing effort to through his Senior Associate position at SymBio Corporation. A single library was constructed in a plasmid vector from randomly sheared 3 kb fragments. Using capillary electrophoresis, 109,500 sequencing reads were determined, totaling about 70 MB of sequence. A further 890,000 reads using Roche ("454") technology, with average read lengths of 230 bp, produced an additional 205 MB of sequence, for approximately 1X coverage total. Further effort is underway to acquire the funds for deep coverage of this important genome.

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