Marmoset Genome Project

Marmoset
Image source:
Raimond Spekking, Wikimedia Commons
 
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About the Project

The BCM-HGSC is sequencing the genome of the white-tufted-ear marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). The marmoset is a New World Monkey, estimated to have diverged from the anthropoid common ancestor 35 to 40 million years ago. The marmoset is a model for the study of drug sensitivity, brain function, immunity and autoimmune disease.

The Marmoset Genome Sequencing Consortium is a collaboration between the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center (BCM-HGSC) and the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University, St. Louis. The high quality draft whole genome shotgun assembly was produced from clones of different sizes, including small insert plasmids, BACs, and fosmids. There will be finishing and BAC sequencing components of the project to investigate interesting regions for human diseases and to highlight primate evolution.

The marmoset project was proposed in October 2004 in a white paper to the NHGRI. The marmoset is studied in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease and is important for infectious disease and pharmacology research. As a new world monkey, its position in the evolutionary tree is well suited to serve as reference for other primate genomes. Assembly and analysis of marmoset is underway.

The sequencing and comparative analysis is funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Access to the Data

All sequence reads are deposited in the NCBI trace archive as they are produced. Assemblies of contigs and scaffolds, as well as Blast access to the data will be made available here and at the relevant public databases as soon as they are produced.

Resources

Callithrix jacchus White Paper

Y Chromosome Proposal

Primate BAC Library Resource Proposal

BAC resources: Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute

Taxonomy browser summary of data at NCBI

International Genome Consortium Database

Conditions for use