Fruitfly Genome Sequencing

The Drosophila melanogaster genome sequencing project was essentially completed in March of 2000. Sequencing was begun using mapped large-insert clones, but completed using a whole genome shotgun (WGS) approach; it represents the first demonstration of the WGS approach to sequencing in a multicellular organism.

The D. melanogaster genome sequencing project was led by the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP); the WGS effort was carried out in collaboration with Celera Genomics. Subsequently, the sequence was finished to high quality, an effort carried out by the BDGP in collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center. The National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute supplied funding for the D. melanogaster genome project. Celera Genomics contributed the WGS reads and assemblies.

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) subsequently supported a D. pseudoobscura genome sequencing project, undertaken by Baylor College of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center, aimed at producing 7-fold WGS coverage of the D. pseudoobscura genome. The assembled sequence, released in August 2003, will be used to compare with the D. melanogaster sequence to reveal conserved regions.

NHGRI currently supports a number of other Drosophila genomic sequencing projects: Drosophila simulans, D. yakuba, D. ananassae, D. erecta, D. willistoni, D. grimshawi,D. mojavensis, D. virilis, D. persimilis,and D. sechellia.These sequences will further aid in the comparative analysis and annotation of the D. melanogastersequence. These projects have been undertaken by Washington University, Agencourt Biosciences Corporation, and J. Craig Venter Institute.

Genome Sequencing Whitepaper Proposals:

Drosophila simulans and Drosophila yakuba
Draft Assembly
(Submitted Feb. 2003)
Drosophila ananassaae, D. erecta, D. grimshawi, D. mojavensis, D. persimilis, D. sechellia, D. virilis, and D. willistoni
Draft Assembly
(Submitted June 2003)
Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel
Deep coverage of one strain with sequencing of three aditional strains, if successful
(Submitted September 2007)
Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel
Draft coverage of 192 lines
(Submitted May 2008)

Project Links

Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP)
- D. melanogaster [fruitfly.org]
Baylor College of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center
- D. pseudoobscura [hgsc.bcm.tmc.edu]
Washington University in St. Louis Genome Sequencing Center
- D. simulans [genome.wustl.edu]
- D. yakuba [genome.wustl.edu]
J. Craig Venter Institute [jcvi.org]
Celera Genomics [celera.com]

Supporting Institutions

NCI [cancer.gov]
NIGMS [nigms.nih.gov]
Howard Hughes Medical Institute [hhmi.org]

Additional Resources

Sequence and Assembly

Individual Sequence Reads:
- NCBI Trace Archive [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
  - D. ananassae
  - D. erecta
  - D. grimshawi
  - D. melanogaster
  - D. mojavensis
  - D. persimilis
  - D. pseudoobscura
  - D. sechellia
  - D. simulans
  - D. virilis
  - D. willistoni
  - D. yakuba
D. melanogaster Sequence Assembly
- NCBI [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
- Ensembl [useast.ensembl.org]
- UCSC [genome.ucsc.edu]

Model Organism Database

Fly Base [flybase.org]

ESTs

dbEST [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] - Database of ESTs at NCBI
Baylor College of Medicine - Genome Sequence FTP site
- D. melanogaster [hgsc.bcm.tmc.edu] (ftp)
- D. pseudoobscura [hgsc.bcm.tmc.edu] (ftp)
Berkley Drosphila Genome Project ESTs [fruitfly.org]

Last updated: April 12, 2012