Knowledge of the complete genomic DNA sequence of an organism allows a systematic approach to defining its genetic components. The genomic sequence provides access to the complete structures of all genes, including those without known function, their control elements, and, by inference, the proteins they encode, as well as all other biologically important sequences. Furthermore, the sequence is a rich and permanent source of information for the design of further biological studies of the organism and for the study of evolution through cross-species sequence comparison. The power of this approach has been amply demonstrated by the determination of the sequences of a number of microbial and model organisms. The next step is to obtain the complete sequence of the entire human genome. Here we report the sequence of the euchromatic part of human chromosome 22. The sequence obtained consists of 12 contiguous segments spanning 33.4 megabases, contains at least 545 genes and 134 pseudogenes, and provides the first view of the complex chromosomal landscapes that will be found in the rest of the genome.

BackgroundA minor but significant fraction of samples subjected to next-generation sequencing methods are either mixed-up or cross-contaminated. These events can lead to false or inconclusive results. We have therefore developed SASI-Seq; a process whereby a set of uniquely barcoded DNA fragments are added to samples destined for sequencing. From the final sequencing data, one can verify that all the reads derive from the original sample(s) and not from contaminants or other samples.ResultsBy adding a mixture of three uniquely barcoded amplicons, of different sizes spanning the range of insert sizes one would normally use for Illumina sequencing, at a spike-in level of approximately 0.1%, we demonstrate that these fragments remain intimately associated with the sample. They can be detected following even the tightest size selection regimes or exome enrichment and can report the occurrence of sample mix-ups and cross-contamination.As a consequence of this work, we have designed a set of 384 eleven-base Illumina barcode sequences that are at least 5 changes apart from each other, allowing for single-error correction and very low levels of barcode misallocation due to sequencing error.ConclusionSASI-Seq is a simple, inexpensive and flexible tool that enables sample assurance, allows deconvolution of sample mix-ups and reports levels of cross-contamination between samples throughout NGS workflows.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-110) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

14Many chemicals can induce skin sensitization, and there is a pressing need for non-animal

Studies on DNA from pathogenic organisms, within clinical samples, are often complicated by the presence of large amounts of host, e.g., human DNA. Isolation of pathogen DNA from these samples would improve the efficiency of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and pathogen identification. Here we describe a solution-based hybridisation method for isolation of pathogen DNA from a mixed population. This straightforward and inexpensive technique uses probes made from whole-genome DNA and off-the-shelf reagents.In this study, Escherichia coli DNA was successfully enriched from a mixture of E.coli and human DNA. After enrichment, genome coverage following NGS was significantly higher and the evenness of coverage and GC content were unaffected. This technique was also applied to samples containing a mixture of human and Plasmodium falciparum DNA. The P.falciparum genome is particularly difficult to sequence due to its high AT content (80.6%) and repetitive nature. Post enrichment, a bias in the recovered DNA was observed, with a poorer representation of the AT-rich non-coding regions. This uneven coverage was also observed in pre-enrichment samples, but to a lesser degree. Despite the coverage bias in enriched samples, SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) calling in coding regions was unaffected and the majority of samples had over 90% of their coding region covered at 5x depth.This technique shows significant promise as an effective method to enrich pathogen DNA from samples with heavy human contamination, particularly when applied to GC-neutral genomes.