From owner-schisto@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Thu Oct 19 09:21:13 2000 Return-Path: Received: by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix, from userid 110) id B28D217A58; Thu, 19 Oct 2000 09:21:12 +0100 (BST) Received: by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix, from userid 60001) id 6801F17ADE; Thu, 19 Oct 2000 09:21:11 +0100 (BST) To: schisto@net.bio.net Newsgroups: bionet.organisms.schistosoma From: Don McManus Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 15:45:03 +1000 Subject: Schistosoma Genome Mapping - call for letters of Support Message-Id: <20001019082111.6801F17ADE@mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk> Sender: owner-schisto@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Dear colleagues in the Schisto research community, I thought it appropriate contact you to tell you about progress on the NHMRC of Australia Medical Genomics proposal I submitted earlier this year to sequence at the Australian Genome Research Facility in Brisbane about 10-15Mb of the S. mansoni genome. Many of you will recall I dicussed this at the Schisto Genome Network meeting earlier this year. My pre-proposal was considered by NHMRC and of 63 applications it was selected as one of 23 to be vetted by the NIH. Of the 23, 11 were prioritised and my proposal is one of the eleven for which a full proposal has been requested. I understand 4 will be funded so I am hopeful. I submit the proposal by November 24th and will know the outcome by end of 2000. I wrote the proposal as a consortium type application on behalf of the WHO Schistosoma Genome Network with Phil Loverde, Leda Cummings, Ray Pierce, David Johnstone and Sergio Verjovski-Almeida as the other main chief investigators. The project is for genomic sequencing and analysis only, no library construction because the plan was to rely on Ray Pierce's existing BAC clones and the new BAC libraries to be constructed by Leda/Phil as part of an NIH proposal that is currently under consideration. Just to extend this, as many of you will know, Dave Johnston has applied to Wellcome Trust under the Beowulf/Sanger program and he has been asked for a full proposal and I read in Nature that the Sao Paolo consortium led by Andy Simpson that sequenced the Xylella fastidiosa genome (much coverage in Nature and other journals including Time) is now interested in sequencing S. mansoni. Sergio is part of the Sao Paolo consortium. So the end-product of this is that if all goes to plan that we could have 5 groups linked to major sequencing facilities working together as a consortium on the S mansoni genome. This will of course be necessary because of the large size of the genome. I thought you might be interested in the latest developments as if we can get these projects underway it will have a major impact on all our research as all the data will be available to everyone. In order for this application to be successful, we must demonstrate that there is appropriate UK and international research community support for the project. I am therefore writing to request that you send to me, letters or faxes in support of the project. If at all possible, please reply by fax, on headed notepaper, rather than by email . The final proposal must be submitted by November 24th, so an early response would be appreciated. A suggested format for the letter is below, please feel free to use this format "as is", or to edit it, or to provide a letter of your own format. Thank you, in advance, for your support. This will benefit us all. Don McManus Prof Don McManus, Molecular Parasitology Unit, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Brisbane, Q4029, AUSTRALIA. Dear Professor McManus, I am writing to express my support for your application to the Australian NHMRC Program in Medical Genomics for a project to generate 15Mb sequence as Australian input into the International Consortium Initiative to sequence the genome of the serious human pathogen, Schistosoma mansoni, the agent of schistosomiasis. This disease is a major cause of morbidity in the world. It ranks with malaria and tuberculosis in that regard. Up to 300 million people are infected with schistosomes. The infection is endemic to 76 countries where over 600 million people are at risk. Approximately 10% of the infected individuals present with severe disease. The project complements work by the international consortium (members of the Schistosoma Genome Network) who have already secured funding or have applications for support pending to various agencies. The immediate aim of the consortium is to sequence circa 25% of the S. mansoni genome as a critical stepping stone to sequencing the genome in its entirety. This will have a significant impact in promoting further understanding of parasite biology and the design of strategies to control and treat schistosomiasis. Yours sincerely, From owner-schisto@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Fri Oct 20 07:38:36 2000 Return-Path: Received: by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix, from userid 110) id 797AA17AF6; Fri, 20 Oct 2000 07:38:35 +0100 (BST) Received: by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix, from userid 60001) id 6207117AB1; Fri, 20 Oct 2000 07:38:34 +0100 (BST) To: schisto@net.bio.net Newsgroups: bionet.organisms.schistosoma From: Don McManus Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 07:59:29 +1000 Subject: Schistosoma Genome Mapping - call for letters of Support Message-Id: <20001020063834.6207117AB1@mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk> Sender: owner-schisto@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Many apologies - I seem not to have included a fax number yesterday when I requested letters of support. It is 61-7-3362 0104 I have already received a number of letters of support. Keep them coming but if possible try to change the wording a little so that they dont all sound the same. Best wishes to all.. Keep the letters flowing. Don ********************************************************** Prof. Don McManus BSc, PhD, DSc. Head, Molecular Parasitology Unit, Deputy Director, Australian Centre for International and Tropical Health and Nutrition, The Queensland Institute of Medical Research ph: 61-7-33620401 The Bancroft Centre, PO RBH fax: 61-7-33620104 Herston, QLD 4029, Australia onM@qimr.edu.au http://www.qimr.edu.au ************************************************************************