BGI Library of digital life proposals
The BGI Library of Digital Life Project is seeking community input with regard to which species to sequence. Please use this page to nominate species and show your support. The current list of animal species to be sequenced may already include your species but please add it with support to this page if it does not exist here.
Species names should be listed in the table of contents or use your browsers 'Find' functionality when (if) this page becomes too long. If you have any difficulties or need help please contact bugadmin
- Guide on how to show you interest in a species.
Instructions on how to add a Species to the list
Please add a new species to the bottom of this page. Please sign and date your post (by typing ~~~~ or clicking the signature icon: Button 
in the edit toolbar).
Instructions on how to add a your support or interest for a species
Please sign and date your post (by typing ~~~~ or clicking the signature icon: Button in the edit toolbar) immediately after the name of the species you want to support.
A quick guide can be found in the Help section. You can support as many (or few) species as you want.
Please add your support for a species even if it has been selected as this will help coordinate interest when the genomes are completed.
Key for species sections on this page
:: Species which the BGI have already accepted for inclusion in the project
:: Species for which a proposal has been made but we are awaiting a decision from BGI
:: Species for which there is interest in making a proposal
Bemisia tabaci (Sweet potato whitefly)
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Accepted | Bemisia tabaci Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 9 interested users |
Jfabrick 16:15, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
Coccinella septempunctata (Seven-spotted ladybird)
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Accepted | Coccinella septempunctata Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 2 interested users |
Plutella 12:25, 16 March 2010 (UTC) --GroWi 16:26, 17 March 2010 (UTC)
Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Flat/Rusty Grain Beetle)
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Preproposal | Cryptolestes ferrugineus Proposed by: David Schlipalius with 0 interested users |
Euphausia superba
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Accepted | Euphausia superba Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
Eriocheir sinensis (Chinese mitten crab)
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Accepted | Eriocheir sinensis Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
Leptothorax acervorum
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Preproposal | Leptothorax acervorum Proposed by: Yannick Wurm with 2 interested users |
Yannickwurm 09:41, 11 February 2010 (UTC)
Lithobius forticatus
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Accepted | Lithobius forticatus Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
Macrobrachium rosenbergii (Giant freshwater prawn)
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Accepted | Macrobrachium rosenbergii Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
Mantis religiosa
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Accepted | Mantis religiosa Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
--GroWi 16:26, 17 March 2010 (UTC)
Mesobuthus martensii
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Accepted | Mesobuthus martensii Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
Photuris pennslyvanica
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Accepted | Photuris pennslyvanica Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
Polyura athamas (Common nawab)
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Accepted | Polyura athamas Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
Rhipicephalus microplus (Southern Cattle tick)
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Preproposal | Rhipicephalus microplus Proposed by: Felix Guerrero with 1 interested users |
Rhyzopertha dominica (Lesser grain borer)
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Preproposal | Rhyzopertha dominica Proposed by: David Schlipalius with 1 interested users |
- DavidS 04:39, 3 February 2010 (UTC)
Scutigera coleoptrata
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Accepted | Scutigera coleoptrata Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
--GroWi 16:25, 17 March 2010 (UTC) --Heiko Vogel 17:11, 17 March 2010 (UTC)
Sitophilus oryzae (Rice Weevil)
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Preproposal | Sitophilus oryzae Proposed by: David Schlipalius with 2 interested users |
Sympetrum flaveolum
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Accepted | Sympetrum flaveolum Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 0 interested users |
Acanthoscelides (Bruchidius) obtectus (bean weevil)
Important pest of stored food products Long history of embryological manipulations Beetle with long germ mode of development, similar to Drosophila and Nasonia, but a relatively close relative of Tribolium, so can leverage the interests and resources of the Tribolium community Easily cultured in the lab Amenable to in situ hybridization and parental RNAi Polyphenism in adults in response to crowding and nutritional status as larvae--
Jalynch 10:12, 12 March 2010 (UTC) Jeremy Lynch
Pieris rapae (Small cabbage white butterfly)
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Tick | Pieris rapae Proposed by: BGI Library of digital life with 2 interested users |
The small cabbage white butterfly is a common agricultural pest through the world, as well as a model species for studying developmental biology, thermal ecology, life history traits, as well as the ecology and evolution of detoxification mechanisms. Common throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa, this species has invaded both North America and Australia within the last 150 years and is a common pest on common forms of cultivated cabbage. It also feeds on a diverse set of relatives in the Brassicales (Crucifers). A diverse set of research labs use Pieris rapae as a model system, primarily because if its high density in the wild and ease of rearing in captivity (on both plant and artifical diet). These research foci are listed below:
Thermal Ecology: By combining field observations with mathematical modeling, this body of work has used both larvae and adult butterflies to study how this species interacts with daily variation in temperature. This interaction affects feeding, flight behavior, and overall affects how this organism performs in the wild with important implications for climate change. butterfly example larval example responses to predicted global warming example
Developmental Biology: By combining detailed molecular study and manipulation, research has begun to understand the mechanisms that cause the wing color patterns found in this species. In comparison with several other butterflies species, Pieris rapae serves as an important research system for understanding the development underlying the complex color pattern variation found in butterfly wings. Pieris wing pattern development comparative analysis using Pieris
Life History Evolution: Much work has been invested in understanding the genetic basis of life history traits in Pieris rapare, as well as close relatives P. brassicae and P. napi. For example, recent work has uncovered previously unknown chemical compounds used by males to deter other males from mating the same female anti-aphrodisiacs. This chemical signal has been exploited by the plant to induced indirect chemical defenses link title, as well as parasitoids, which use it to detect when a female butterfly has been mated parasitic wasp learns to exploit butterfly parasitoid explioiting chemical signal
Plant-Herbivore Coevolution: Cabbage plants and their relatives use a very power chemical defense system, called glucosinoates, to keep away herbivores. While the genetics of how these plants synthesize these chemicals is very well understood, only recently has there been progress in understanding how certain insects are able to detoxify these glucosinolate chemical defenses. Work in the Pieris rapae has identified the specific gene, and its enzymatic activity, that directly detoxifies glucosinolates. Ongoing work has begun to study the evolution of this gene, finding that it is a member of a new gene family that is evolving in a dynamic birth death like manner. Having a genome sequence upon which this work can base its studies would greatly help the study of this detoxification mechanism to progress. detoxification mechanism coevolutionary dynamics
--Cwheat 10:50, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
Plutella 12:24, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
--Plutella 12:25, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
--GroWi 16:25, 17 March 2010 (UTC)
--Khjoplin 01:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
Sarcophaga crassipalpis
Rational for sequencing the genome of the flesh fly, Sarcophaga crassipalpis
Karl H Joplin1,2
1Department of Biological Sciences, 2Institute of Quantitative Biology, East Tennessee State University. Johnson City, TN, 37614 USA, joplin@etsu.edu, 423-439-6921 (ph) 423-439-5958 (fax)
Overview: Flesh flies have been valuable model organisms to study a variety of physiological, hormonal and developmental questions. Although they are not an important vector of disease, they are an important, if underappreciated, component of the recycling of organic carcasses and are used in forensic studies. From a biological standpoint, an important aspect of their lifecycle is their response to environmental cues to trigger a decision to enter the alternative life stage, diapause. Sequencing of the flesh fly will provide a crucial instrument to fully explore these processes. Diapause has important consequences to questions about control of developmental stages, aging, metabolic control, and immune response. An overview of the areas that would be amenable to genomic analysis include:
• Isolation of diapause differentially regulated genes and associated comparison with aging genes.
• Genetic control of metabolism associated with the inducible state of metabolic suppression during diapause.
• Molecular response to environmental cues where short daylength induces an optional developmental state.
• Genetic Regulatory Networks of developmental states.
• Pervasive Genomic Transcription and regulatory control of gene expression.
• Host-parasitoid interactions, comparison with Nasonia and Musca.
• Comparative genomic analysis with the growing genomic datasets of the Diptera clade such as the Drosophila group, Musca, Aedes and Anopheles genomes.
The community of researchers involved in flesh fly research is ready, prepared and eager to apply genomic analysis to their various research programs. The continued development of next generation sequencing and analysis platforms will enable the genomic projects of many model systems and the Sarcophaga project would be a leading candidate for sequencing. Acquisition of a complete genomic dataset will be the starting point for allowing investigations into the genomic transcriptional control and genetic regulatory networks that are becoming increasingly important components in the control of distinct biological states such as developmental life stages and gene expression and regulatory controls as physiological responses to the environment.
