The Joint Genome Institute has approved a project to sequence the genome of Phycomyces blakesleeanus. The project participants are Luis M. Corrochano (University of Seville, Spain), Ed Braun (University of Florida, USA), and Scott E. Baker (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA). The following information is available through the JGI web site: The press release, the full list of projects approved, and a brief description of the reasons to sequence Phycomyces. This page will contain updated information about the project to sequence the Phycomyces genome.

2006.12.14. The official date for the release of the annotated Phycomyces genome is January 15, 2007.

2006.09.08. The 8x assembly of the Phycomyces genome is ready. A set of 26,880 cDNA clones have been characterized and about 53,000 ESTs have been obtained to aid in the annotation process. A web site is being prepared with the pre-annoatated assembly. Details will be posted here. The Phycomyces genome is now proceeding into the finishing stage at Stanford University.

2006.07.05. The cDNA libraries have passed the quality control at JGI and are now in the waiting list to be sequenced.

2006.06.07. A blast server has been set up with the 4x assembly of the Phycomyces genome. Contact Luis Corrochano (corrochano@us.es) if you are interested in looking for the presence of your favourite gene in the partial genome assembly.

2006.03.28. The 4x assembly of the Phycomyces genome is ready. The assembly looks appropriate and the project will advance into the final sequencing stage to obtain the 8x assembly. The construction of the cDNA is now in progress and is expected to be ready in June.

2006.01.16. The Phycomyces project is already in the production stage. The list of all the projects and their current situation updated every month is here.

2005.12.07. All the three DNA libraries (3 kb, 8 kb, and 40 kb) have passed the quality control. The production group has estimated that they will generate 4x sequence coverage data by February 2006. Assembly will be attempted then and if everything works as planned the sequencing will continue until reaching 8x genome coverage. This second part should take another 1-2 months. The cDNA library construction is scheduled to be completed by late December-January.

2005.11.14. The final agreement with the JGI for the use of the production genomics facility has been signed. This is the last legal document required before the project can enter the sequencing phase.

2005.11.07. All the genomic DNA libraries (3 kb, 8 kb, and 40 kb) are now ready and have been sent to the sequencing unit of JGI.

2005.09.27. The 3 kb and 8 kb libraries have been prepared by the library construction group at JGI. However, they had problems with the 40 kb library. A new high-molecular weight DNA sample has been sent to JGI.

2005.08.01. The Phycomyces RNA from the wild type strain NRRL1555 has arrived at JGI. Preliminary analysis shows that the RNA is in good shape. Library construction should start soon.

2005.07.21. The Phycomyces genomic DNA seems to be in good shape. Library construction should start soon.

2005.07.18. The Phycomyces genomic DNA from the wild type strain NRRL1555 has arrived at JGI. Library construction will start as soon as the quality of the DNA has been checked.

2005.07.18. The Phycomyces RNA from the wild type strain NRRL1555 has been shipped from Sevilla (Spain) to JGI (Walnut Creek, CA, USA) for cDNA library construction and EST sequencing.

2005.07.11. The Phycomyces genomic DNA from the wild type strain NRRL1555 has been shipped from Sevilla (Spain) to JGI (Walnut Creek, CA, USA) for library construction and sequencing.

2005.07.06. The contract with the Joint Genome Institute for the sequencing of the Phycomyces genome has been signed. The user agreement has the title "Genome sequence of the zygomycete fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus". Under the agreement, JGI will generate three libraries: two plasmid libraries with insert sizes of 3 and 8 kb, and a fosmid library with insert sizes of 35-40 kb. Each plasmid library will be sequenced to about 4x coverage, and the fosmid library will be sequenced to about 0.5x coverage. The resulting sequence draft will be performed with 8x coverage. The JGI will also sequence up to 24,286 ESTs (expressed sequence tags) or both ends of 12,143 cDNA clones. The EST database will help with gene annotation and will serve as a resource for the community. Sequencing and annotation should be finished by September 2006.

2005.05.10. The Joint Genome Institute has approved the project to sequence the 40 Mb genome of Phycomyces blakesleeanus wild type strain NRRL1555.