REPORT OF THE THIRD MEETING OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE

OF THE TETRAHYMENA GENOME PROJECT

Saxtons River, VT, July 31, 2001

Prepared by E. Orias - 8-20-01

The Steering Committee had its third meeting on July 31, 2001, in conjunction with the FASEB International Conference on Ciliate Molecular Biology.

ACTIONS TAKEN:

- We will proceed to activate the process to submit an NIH proposal to initially sequence, finish and annotate the Tetrahymena thermophila MAC genome. The application process is described below.

- We will explore the possibility of initially linking with an existing database, as possibly the most useful and cost affective elternative, at least in the short term.

- We will do everything we can to ensure that the project and the database benefit the entire ciliate community.

- Since we expect that the benefits of the Tetrahymena genome project will be broad, we plan to explore as many alternative funding sources as possible.

THE NIH APPLICATION PROCESS.

1. We must first submit a concept paper justifying the genome project and projecting its costs. The issues that we must address are given at http://www.nih.gov/science/models/process/index.html

I will coordinate the efforts of a group of investigators, listed further below, who will collate information on the significance of having a genome project to the research areas of their expertise. We aim to have the concept paper ready for submission by Oct. 1.

2. The concept paper will be reviewed by the Trans-NIH Non-Mammalian Models Committee. This Committee includes representatives from all the NIH Institutes, as well as NSF, USDA, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and perhaps others. You can read about it at http://www.nih.gov/science/models/reports/ccnmm_staff_contacts.html

3. Contingent upon feedback from the Non-Mammalian Models Committee, we plan to submit a full-fledged application at the earliest possible date, hopefully by Jan 1, 2002.

We will keep you informed of the progress of our application as it moves through the process.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

We want the genome project to be responsive to the needs and aspirations of the entire Ciliate research community. Many of you have asked how you could be of help. Here are some areas in which your help could be very useful:

1) By submitting a concisely written paragraph that describes how having genome sequence (and downstream resources) would help address important research problems in your area of expertise, particularly if you think that the area is unlikely to be sufficiently covered by the topics listed below. Suggested guidelines are given in the Appendix below.

2) By alerting me to any of your new findings, accepted papers, or funded grants that have direct application to the genomic effort, e.g., that generate new tools or resources that strengthen our application and enhance the prospects for productive downstream use of Tetrahymena genome sequence.

3) By sending to me a list of the most useful information that you would like to see in the database, so that it could be of greatest help not just to the ciliate community, but also to the outside research community in your area of interest.

4) By alerting me to experience you may have and willingness to help in the "informatics" area, e.g., website management, database organization and management, systematizing information, annotation, etc.

5) By alerting me to any funding sources that could reasonably be approached to help support the sequencing project, with specific information that would facilitate contacts with these agencies or companies.

PRESENT AT THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING:

David Asai, Cliff Brunk, Peter Bruns, Ted Clark, Jean Cohen, Kathy Collins, Jacek Gaertig, Marty Gorovsky, Carolyn Jahn, Jeff Kapler, Kathy Karrer, Larry Klobutcher, Laura Landweber, Ed Orias, Ron Pearlman, Aaron Turkewitz.

Unable to attend: Ching Kung and Linda Sperling.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

I would like to express my thanks to the speakers in the Mapping and Genomics Session and in the Genomics Workshop at the FASEB meeting; to members of the Steering Committee and the meeting organizers for their excellent help, support and advice; to Bill Gelbart (Harvard University) and Jonathan Eisen (TIGR) for speaking in our Genomics Workshop and sharing with us their insights derived from participation in completed genome sequencing projects; and to Tony Carter (Director of the Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and NIH contact person for the Tetrahymena genome project) for attending the FASEB meeting, explaining to us the NIH process for genomic grant applications and alerting us to areas of the concept paper that must be thoroughly documented..

APPENDIX

GUIDELINES REGARDING STATEMENTS OF GENOME SEQUENCE SIGNIFICANCE

Of special value would be demonstrated accomplishments and/or specific findings indicating clear promise of applicability that would be of interest to agencies supporting research with diverse missions, e.g., fundamental biology (NIH and NSF), NIH disease institutes, US Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, pharmaceutical/biotech industry, philanthropic foundations, etc.

The significance of the Tetrahymena genome sequence is expected to cover a variety of areas, such as:

- Fundamental biology (cellular, molecular, developmental, physiological, behavioral, evolutionary, ecological, environmental, etc.)

- Medicine and public health

- Surrogate animal research

- Biotech & pharmaceutical research & drug testing

- Monitoring environmental quality

- Other areas not listed here that you may be keenly aware of.

If you would like to submit a statement, please:

- Include a limited number of key references in your statement: to a good review, if possible, or to primary research paper(s), if not.

- Don't hesitate to indicate cases where findings in other ciliates strengthen the contributions and promise of the Tetrahymena genomic sequence.

- For the purposes of the application, contributions of other Tetrahymena species, e.g., T. pyriformis, should be treated as interchangeable with those of T. thermophila.

- Send your contribution directly to me, as soon as possible; your contribution will be of greatest usefulness if sent by Sept 1.

INVESTIGATORS THAT HAVE SUBMITTED OR HAVE AGREED TO SUBMIT STATEMENTS IN VARIOUS AREAS OF THE CONCEPT PAPER:

- Cilia & Cytoskeleton: Jacek Gaertig and David Asai,

jgaertig@CB.UGA.EDU, dasai@BILBO.BIO.PURDUE.EDU

- Ecology & Evolution: Laura Landweber and Ron Pearlman,

lfl@PRINCETON.EDU, ronp@YORKU.CA

- Chromatin, nuclei & apoptosis: Marty Gorovsky,

goro@UHURA.CC.ROCHESTER.EDU

- Replication, Recombination, Repair: Jeff Kapler, gkapler@TAMU.EDU

- Protein targeting: Aaron Turkewitz, apturkew@MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU

- Phagocytosis & Bacterial pathogenesis: Larry Klobutcher,

butcher@PANDA.UCHC.EDU