Sequence Data - short follow-up with some more discussion

Just a quick update: all of the 12 sequences mentioned in yesterday's lab note are up on GenBank and available to view now. I checked several times throughout the day for the two non-rRNA sequences that were added to the database later, MG015894.1 and MG015895.1, and they eventually came online sometime this evening (they were not up earlier in the day).

For good measure, here's a screenshot of the tufA sequence from Stigeoclonium sp. "Filamentous 1":

 

This sequence turns out to be the third that's relatively new from this set of 12. A full chloroplast genome from the species Stigeoclonium helveticum has been published before, which contains the tufA gene encoding the plastid elongation factor EF-Tu; however, my sequence represents the first time that someone has specifically and successfully amplified just this particular gene from this genus of algae. This gene is generally not very well studied in the algae, where it resides in the cpDNA, but it has been suggested by studies as recent as last year to be a very strong candidate for phylogenetic study in the Chlorophyceae, perhaps better than the ITS or rbcL gene regions (although so far, my data has not corroborated this, due to the lack of specificity it demonstrates towards algal DNA). Throughout the course of my research, I expect that I will be able to add some more new sequences to the library of algal tufA, including hopefully some more representative sequences from previously-unstudied genera or species.

Hopefully I'll make the next lab note an update on a different area of research, but this is how things have generally been looking so far. Stay tuned.