IMG 1.2 enables users to add annotations to IMG as well as to save the results of their analysis of organisms and genes. IMG 1.2 also features enhanced comparative analysis capabilities, including VISTA exploration of sequence conservation for selected organisms and KEGG pathway and COG category profiles across all organisms.
Since its initial release in March 2005, IMG has gained increasing recognition in the scientific community. "IMG is invaluable for comparative genomic analyses," said Mark A. Schell, professor in the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia. "My laboratory uses it all the time and I will use it in the classes I teach this fall."
Responding to the growing interest in the community, IMG is developing tools to facilitate use of the system. Through the sponsorship of the DOE Office of Science Laboratory Science Teacher's Professional Development program (LSTPD), Karen Kelly, a biology teacher from local Clayton Valley High School, spent the summer at the JGI Production Genomics Facility, designing an IMG training workshop for teachers and students.
"They will experience up-close and personal lessons from the researchers on how JGI tackles microbial genomes and how scientific value is added from comparative analyses," Kelly said. "From this population, JGI hopes to harness a new generation of intern bioinformaticists that will help advance IMG's annotation goals
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Contact: David Gilbert
gilbert21@llnl.gov
925-296-5643
DOE/Joint Genome Institute
1-Sep-2005