Who we are and what we do
1) Coordinated project across 14+ USDA ARS research units, other federal partners, and many university collaborators.
2) Prioritization, collection, and sequencing of diverse bee taxa.
3) Data assembly, annotation, analysis, and curation in publicly accessible databases.
Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash
Research Accomplishments
1) As of November 2024, over 100 high quality reference genomes have been sequenced. Species were selected based on taxonomic diversity, biological importance, and conservation status, and then processed at one of two involved sequencing hubs (Hilo, HI or Stoneville, MS).
2) Refined our sequencing pipeline to allow superior assemblies and microbial data. Economical two-phase sequencing effort, followed by assembly, upload to NCBI, integration with i5K.
3) Sequencing of the putatively extinct species Bombus franklini, and other at-risk species including Bombus affinis, has facilitated collaborative research to survey for species using DNA.