In this issue... 

1997 Santa Fe Highlights 
Patrinos Address 
Joint Genome Institute (JGI) Comes of Age 
JGI Sequencing 
JGI Informatics 
JGI and Bermuda Quality Sequence 
Grants Awarded for JGI Collaboration 
JGI Sequencing Clones 
Sequencing Strategies,Tools 
Gene-Discovery Resources 
Sequencing at NIH NHGRI 
Functional Genomics 
Data Surge Challenges Informaticists 
Genome Annotation: Informatics Advances Needed for Age of Functional Genomics 
ELSI: Rapid Progress Accelerates Societal Impact of Genome Research 
1999 DOE HGP Meeting Set for California 

Human Genome Project Administration 
New 5-Year Goals, Project Midpoint 
DOE, NIH Discuss Informatics 
JASON Group Review 
BER Genome Instrumentation Research 

In the News 
Private-Sector Sequencing Plan 
Bang for the Buck: Government-Backed Research Underpins Potentially High Payoff Ventures 
Palmisano Joins DOE OBER 
DNA Files series to be on NPR 
HUGO Addresses Sample Collection 
Sickle Cell Mice May Lead to New Treatments 
TIGR Sequencing 6 More Microbes 
Tuberculosis Microbe Sequenced 
C. Elegans Sequencing Nears Finish 
HGMIS Website Restructured 
cDNA Cloning Workshop Identifies Critical Issues 
Survey Identifies Growing Need for Synchrotron Analyses 
NCGR Announcements 

Publications 
Report on Functional Consequences of Gene Expression 
Book on Tuskegee Conference 
Book Focuses on Biomarker Implications, Conference Proceedings 
Genome Analysis Protocol Handbook 

Software and the Internet 
Mouse Genome Informatics Release 2.0 
New System Identifies Polymorphisms 
DOE Supports Web Site for 1997 AAAS Genome Symposium 
Expressed Human Genome Database 

Funding 
DOE ELSI 
NIH NHGRI 
NHGRI Initiates Mailing List 
U.S. Genome Research Funding 

Meeting Calendars & Acronyms 
Genome and Biotechnology Meetings 
Training Courses and Workshops 
Acronyms 

HGN archives and subscriptions   
HGP Information home 

Microbial Genome News

TIGR Sequencing Six More Microbes

The DOE Microbial Genome Program (MGP) aims to determine the sequence of bacteria having potential usefulness in energy, environmental, and evolutionary research (http://www.er.doe.gov/production/ober/HELSRD_top.html). With the support of MGP, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and its collaborators are sequencing the genomes of an additional six microbes.

• Pseudomonas putida (5.0 Mb)
• Thiobacillus ferroxidans (2.9 Mb)
• Desulfovibrio vulgaris (1.7 Mb)
• Caulobacter crescentus (3.8 Mb) with Lucille Shapiro (Stanford University) and Bert Ely (University of South Carolina)
• Chlorobium tepidum (2.1 Mb)
• Dehalococcoides ethenogenes

Tuberculosis Microbe Sequenced
New Drugs, Vaccines May Result
In June researchers reported obtaining the DNA sequence of the complete 4.4-Mb genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism that causes tuberculosis. The sequence is the first completed at The Wellcome Trust Pathogen Genome Unit at the Sanger Centre, U.K.

An estimated 2.9 million people died from this chronic infectious disease in 1997, and concern is growing over new antibiotic-resistant strains that have emerged in recent years. According to a Nature online special report on the global tuberculosis epidemic (http://www.nature.com), about one in every three people in the world is infected with M. tuberculosis, and each has an estimated 10% lifetime risk of progressing to clinical disease. Scientists hope that knowledge of the DNA sequence will provide clues to designing more effective therapeutic agents and vaccines.

The sequence, reported in the June 11 issue of Nature (393, 537-44), is accessible from the Sanger Centre Web site (http://www.sanger.ac.uk/Projects/M_tuberculosis).

Searching TB Genome
A tool is available through the South African National Bioinformatics Institute for searching and extracting genome sequence and open reading frames from the genome of M. tuberculosis. Searches also can be performed against incomplete M. leprae data. (http://ziggy.sanbi.ac.za/tb/tbsearch.htm)

The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v9n3).