Comparative Genomics: from evolution to function

Comparative genomics between species and between types of data facilitates the understanding of what these data really reflect about the underlying processes. Comparative genomics therewith relies on a solid understanding of basic elements of Bioinformatics like homology and orthology. Moreover it is important to know the assumptions and heuristics of bioinformatic methods for comparative genomics and hence we aim to let participants develop an understanding of why they fail (or misdetect) as a consequence of a variety of biological /evolutionary causes.

Date: June 2-6, 2014

Target audience: The course is intended for PhD students and master students in bioinformatics, especially those interested in evolution and/or those who want to compare various genomics data between species.

Program: The first two days of the course provide a basis for the course with the aim to move “beyond blast” in terms of more sensitive homology searches, domain level analysis of protein evolution as well as more fine grained definitions of relatedness as can be obtained from the proper interpretation of gene trees (i.e. various levels of orthology). This foundation is used to discuss in the three following days in more detail three topics: (1) the study of functional and evolutionary consequence of (genome) duplications, (2) the evolution of interactions and complexes and (3) the prediction and evolution of genomic regulatory elements.

Keywords: Sequence analysis; protein-protein interaction; pathways prediction; genomics

Course website: http://biosb.nl/education/course-portfolio/bioinformatics-portfolio/