The Vertebrate Genome Annotation Database and Community Manual Annotation

The Human and Vertebrate Analysis and Annotation (HAVANA) team at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI) undertakes manual annotation of finished vertebrate genomic sequence. This annotation is available from the Vertebrate Genome Annotation database (VEGA) (http://vega.sanger.ac.uk) and is in progress for whole genomes (human, mouse and zebrafish) and specific regions of interest, such as pig (SLA and LRC), dog (DLA), wallaby (MHC), gorilla (MHC and LRC). Manual annotation of genomic data is extremely valuable to produce an accurate reference gene set but is expensive compared with automatic methods and so has been limited to model organisms. Annotation tools that have been developed at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute are being used to fill that gap, as they can be used remotely and so open up viable community annotation collaborations. We introduce the “Blessed” annotator and “Gatekeeper” approach to Community Annotation using the Otterlace/ZMap genome annotation tool. We also describe the strategies adopted for annotation consistency, quality control and viewing of the annotation. We are currently involved in the annotation of immune response genes in pig and have annotated over 1700 genes in a community annotation effort, together with the sequencing and annotation of pig chromosomes X and Y at WTSI that will be displayed on the VEGA website. Presented on behalf of the HAVANA team, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs UK.