Assemblathon 2: evaluating de novo methods of genome assembly in three vertebrate species.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The process of generating raw genome sequence data continues to become
cheaper, faster, and more accurate. However, assembly of such data into high-quality,
finished genome sequences remains challenging. Many genome assembly tools are available,
but they differ greatly in terms of their performance (speed, scalability, hardware
requirements, acceptance of newer read technologies) and in their final output (composition
of assembled sequence). More importantly, it remains largely unclear how to best assess
the quality of assembled genome sequences. The Assemblathon competitions are intended
to assess current state-of-the-art methods in genome assembly. RESULTS: In Assemblathon
2, we provided a variety of sequence data to be assembled for three vertebrate species
(a bird, a fish, and snake). This resulted in a total of 43 submitted assemblies from
21 participating teams. We evaluated these assemblies using a combination of optical
map data, Fosmid sequences, and several statistical methods. From over 100 different
metrics, we chose ten key measures by which to assess the overall quality of the assemblies.
CONCLUSIONS: Many current genome assemblers produced useful assemblies, containing
a significant representation of their genes and overall genome structure. However,
the high degree of variability between the entries suggests that there is still much
room for improvement in the field of genome assembly and that approaches which work
well in assembling the genome of one species may not necessarily work well for another.
Type
Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11119Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1186/2047-217X-2-10Publication Info
Bradnam, Keith R; Fass, Joseph N; Alexandrov, Anton; Baranay, Paul; Bechner, Michael;
Birol, Inanç; ... Korf, Ian F (2013). Assemblathon 2: evaluating de novo methods of genome assembly in three vertebrate
species. Gigascience, 2(1). pp. 10. 10.1186/2047-217X-2-10. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11119.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Erich David Jarvis
Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Neurobiology
Dr. Jarvis' laboratory studies the neurobiology of vocal communication. Emphasis is
placed on the molecular pathways involved in the perception and production of learned
vocalizations. They use an integrative approach that combines behavioral, anatomical,
electrophysiological and molecular biological techniques. The main animal model used
is songbirds, one of the few vertebrate groups that evolved the ability to learn vocalizations.
The generality of the discoveries is tested in other vocal

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