The Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA): Developing Community Resources to Study Diverse Invertebrate Genomes

Authors

• GIGA Community of Scientists
• Jose V. Lopez, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
• Stephen J. O'Brien, St. Petersburg State University - Russia; Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
• Charles Messing, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
• M. Christina Diaz, Nova Southeastern University
• Nicole D. Fogarty, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
• Matthew Johnston, Nova Southeastern University

ORCID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Heredity

ISSN

0022-1503

Publication Date

1-2014

Keywords

Biodiversity, Comparative genomics, Consortium, Evolution, GIGA, Invertebrates, Metazoa

Abstract

Over 95% of all metazoan (animal) species comprise the “invertebrates,” but very few genomes from these organisms have been sequenced. We have, therefore, formed a “Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance” (GIGA). Our intent is to build a collaborative network of diverse scientists to tackle major challenges (e.g., species selection, sample collection and storage, sequence assembly, annotation, analytical tools) associated with genome/transcriptome sequencing across a large taxonomic spectrum. We aim to promote standards that will facilitate comparative approaches to invertebrate genomics and collaborations across the international scientific community. Candidate study taxa include species from Porifera, Ctenophora, Cnidaria, Placozoa, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, Annelida, Bryozoa, and Platyhelminthes, among others. GIGA will target 7000 noninsect/nonnematode species, with an emphasis on marine taxa because of the unrivaled phyletic diversity in the oceans. Priorities for selecting invertebrates for sequencing will include, but are not restricted to, their phylogenetic placement; relevance to organismal, ecological, and conservation research; and their importance to fisheries and human health. We highlight benefits of sequencing both whole genomes (DNA) and transcriptomes and also suggest policies for genomic-level data access and sharing based on transparency and inclusiveness. The GIGA Web site (http://giga.nova.edu) has been launched to facilitate this collaborative venture.

Volume

105

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

18

Comments

© The American Genetic Association 2013. All rights reserved.

Additional Comments

Russia Ministry of Science grant #: G34.31.0068; National Science Foundation award #s: 0732903, 0829763, 0829783, 0829791, 0829986

NSUWorks Citation

GIGA Community of Scientists, Jose V. Lopez, Stephen J. O'Brien, Charles Messing, M. Christina Diaz, Nicole D. Fogarty, and Matthew Johnston. 2014. "The Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA): Developing Community Resources to Study Diverse Invertebrate Genomes." Journal of Heredity 105, (1): 1-18. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/425