CAREER: A Computational Environment for Prokaryotic Genome Projects

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

The scope of a genome project includes the determination of the sequence, identification of gene, and annotation of the genome. Each step involves a huge amount of data and is computationally difficult. Often several separate computational environments are required. To make the system more efficient and less likely to be dependent on personal expertise, a common, reconfigurable computational environment for a genome project will be developed. Four major components will provide a computational environment for prokaryotic genome projects. These include: toolkits for string matching and clustering; an ordering procedure for sets of assembled sequence; a platform for comparative alignment and annotation; an exploratory sequence analysis environment. The work will provide a single unified computational environment from sequencing to annotation, alleviating the obstacles encountered at different stages of a project and contributing to faster, more accurate determination of assembled sequences and their annotations. Educational activity will focus on developing a bioinformatics program, with participation in research projects throughout the institution.