Microbe Project: A BIO Advisory Committee Workshop. Report of a Workshop onMicrobial Genomics to Develop Recommendations for the BIO Directorate of the National Science Foundation

摘要

Perhaps no other area of research has been so energized by the application ofgenomic technology than the microbial field. It was just five years ago that TIGR published the first complete genome sequence for a free-living organism, Haemophilus influenzae (2), and since that first report another twenty-seven microbial genome sequences have been published, with more than 100 other projects underway (3).All of the organisms that have been studied by whole genome analysis are species that can be grown either in the laboratory or in animal cells. Following on from the Interagency Report on the Federal Investment in Microbial Genomics, a new interagency working group will be convened to develop a coordinated interagency effort, now called The Microbe Project. NIH, USDA, DOE, and NASA in addition to NSF are involved thus far, and other agencies may join. The purpose of the proposed BIO AC workshop will be to provide advice that will help crystallize NSFs role in The Microbe Project. The workshop will summarize the accomplishments, challenges, and opportunities in the microbial genomics field that are relevant to the NSF; provide some direct advice such as providing criteria for selection of microbes that should be sequenced with NSF support; and identify issues that should be addressed in greater detail including informatics, standards for annotation, and infrastructure needs in future workshops or other venues.