Draft Sequence of the Rice Genome: A Milestone Publication

Following China's announcement of its completion of the draft genome sequence of the rice indica subspecies on October 12,2001 (page 126, Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Vol. 15 No.3), Chinese scientists published their findings in the April 5 issue of Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In the same issue, a team of scientists with the Switzerland-based Syngenta company reported a similar achievement for another major rice subspecies,japonica.……

Assembly and features of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters in Streptomyces ansochromogenes

A draft genome sequence of Streptomyces ansochromogenes 7100 was generated using 454 sequencing technology. In combination with local BLAST searches and gap filling techniques, a comprehensive antiSMASH-based method was adopted to assemble the secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters in the draft genome of S. ansochromogenes. A total of at least 35 putative gene clusters were identified and assembled. Transcriptional analysis showed that 20 of the 35 gene clusters were expressed in either or all of the three different media tested, whereas the other 15 gene clusters were silent in all three different media. This study provides a comprehensive method to identify and assemble secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters in draft genomes of Streptomyces, and will significantly promote functional studies of these secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters.

A retrospective survey of Brucella melitensis human infection in Hainan Province,China

In China,brucellosis has spread from the northern provinces to the southern coastal area,and Brucella melitensis has become the overwhelmingly dominant species nationwide.Although human Brucellosis cases have been reported in many parts of Hainan Province,investigations into the source of infection have been rare.In this case,we have used the techniques of bacteriology,genome sequencing,and WGS-SNP to investigate the source of infection on a patient with a traveling history between Hainan and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.We collected a 5mL blood sample under sterile conditions from this suspected case of Brucellosis infection and incubated it in a culture bottle.A week later,Brucella colonies were purified and identified under the standard bacteriology procedures to show that the strain appeared as B.melitensis bv.3.Subsequently,a draft genome sequencing of this strain was obtained.AWGS-SNP comparison analysis of Chinese B.melitensis selected(n=36)fromGenBank revealed that the strain in this studywas more similar to the strains isolated from China's northern parts,especially those from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.These data indicated that the source of infection of the patient was in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,but the actual location where this patient became infected was unclear.We suggest that travelers from the southern part of China be cautious when visiting the traditional endemic areas of Brucellosis.