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10 

From: John Liu [mailto:zliu@acesag.auburn.edu]
Sent: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 23:47:13 -0600
To: aquaculturegenomics@acesag.auburn.edu
Subject: [aquaculturegenomics] Aquaculture genomics Newsletter 10

 Aquatic Genomics Workshop to be held January 13-14, 2007: Aquatic 
Genomics Workshop will be held January 13-14, 2007, along with Plant and 
Animal Genome (PAG) Conference in Town and Country Hotel in San Diego, 
CA.  The deadline for the abstract submission is October 2, 2006.  For 
more information, please visit  http://www.intl-pag.org/.

 Please submit your abstracts under the category of poster under 
Aquaculture: For PAG XV abstracts related to Aquaculture, all presenters 
should submit their abstract as a poster and the workshop organizing 
committee will select from the poster abstracts those to be given as 
oral presentations.  

 Dr. Geoff Waldbieser will be our Workshop organizer:   Dr. Geoff 
Waldbieser of the USDA ARS Catfish Genetics Unit will be our Workshop 
organizer.  As some of us already know, Dr. Dennis Hedgecock has 
recently assumed new responsibilities within his university that take 
him too much time to continue as the Workshop Organizer.  He has laid 
some ground work for the planning of the coming Workshop, and on behalf 
of our community, I appreciate very much Dennis’ efforts and time spent 
on the Workshop.  Dr. Geoff Waldbieser graciously picked up the duty. 
Please join me in thanking him for his willingness to step up.  If you 
have any suggestions or comments concerning the format, organization, 
and invited speakers for the Workshop, please contact Dr. Waldbieser 
(gwaldbieser@msa-stoneville.ars.usda.gov). 

 Aquaculture Genomics Travel Awards: Again this year, the NRSP8 
Aquaculture committee is pleased to announce the availability of a 
limited number of Travel Awards of up to $1,000, to support the 
attendance of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at PAG-XIV. 
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who register for the PAG-XIV 
meeting and submit an abstract to the Aquaculture Workshop are eligible 
for consideration. Applications should be submitted by E-mail to either 
John Liu (zliu@acesag.auburn.edu) or Geoff Waldbieser 
(gwaldbieser@msa-stoneville.ars.usda.gov) and include the following 
items. A) the Title and Authors of the submitted Abstract, B) a 
statement of the anticipated costs for the applicant to attend the 
PAG-XIV meeting, and a statement of additional resources (if any) that 
will be available to support their attendance. Applicants MUST also 
arrange for their supervisor to send an E-mail to John Liu or Geoff 
Waldbieser confirming their status as a graduate student or postdoctoral 
fellow.  The deadline for the completion of application is October 2, 
2006.  Applications will be evaluated by the Aquaculture Genomics 
Executive Committee, and decisions will be announced to applicants soon 
after.

 Our NRSP-8 Informatics web site has announced the following new 
additions to the NAGRP animal genome web site (#3, 2006) relevant to 
aquaculture: 

 The QTLdb is now open to public for data entry and updates. One will 
need to register in order to enter his/her own data: 
http://www.animalgenome.org/QTLdb/app.html  The benefits being a QTLdb 
curator are: (1) You can enter or update your data at any time; (2) You 
may wish to keep your data "private" or "public"; (3) You can take 
advantages of QTLdb's internal comparative viewer to examine your data 
against other public data as a study tool.

 New features have been added to the GO Classifications Counter. Now 
users can upload their own classifications as a counting guide, and have 
options to count either single occurrences or all occurrences. 
http://www.animalgenome.org/bioinfo/tools/countgo/
 
 The NAGRP Bioinformatics FTP site has been moved from the old 
http://db.genome.iastateedu/ftp/share/ to a new location at 
http://www.animalgenome.org/bioinfo/tools/share/ Now the content is 
served through an HTTP server.

 A database is setup for the AquaGenomics community members to share 
their publications.  Any registered member can upload their paper to the 
archive and manage his/her own list of publications along with the 
directory information. http://www.animalgenome.org/cgi-bin/angenmap/aqua_pub.pl

 Major progress in research project on the Ig locus in catfish: The 1st 
part of the catfish Ig heavy chain locus was recently published in 
Immunogenetics by Dr. Melanie Wilson’s group at the University of 
Mississippi Medical Center entitled “Structure of th catfish IGH locus: 
analysis of the region including the single functional IGHM gene”. Fo 
more information, please visit http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/
query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16941126&
query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

 Post-doctoral position in Marine Invertebrate Molecular Biology: Greg. 
Warr and Paul Gross (members of the Department of Biochemistry at the 
Medical University of South Carolina, and located at the Hollings Marine 
Laboratory in Charleston, SC) invite applications for a two year 
post-doctoral position available immediately.  This project is focused 
on elucidating the components of the RNA interference pathway in the 
Pacific whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, associated with 
functional immunity to viral infection. Candidates must possess a Ph.D. 
in a relevant field of molecular biology. The successful candidate will 
be expected both to work in a team-oriented collaborative atmosphere and 
to take advantage of opportunities for developing independent research 
within the scope of the project. Applicants should submit, via email, 
curriculum vitae, statement of research experience, copies of any 
relevant publications, contact information, and three letters of 
reference to Dr. Warr warrgw@musc.edu  or Dr. Gross grossp@musc.edu .  
 
 Position available in Quantitative Cell Imaging: The National 
Institute of Standards and Technology and the Medical University of 
South Carolina/Hollings Marine Laboratory are developing cutting edge 
tools for quantitative imaging of marine mammal cells.  The successful 
candidate will work with a multidisciplinary team in the Cell and 
Tissue Measurements Group at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD beginning around 
March, 2007.  This applicant will be a critical component of a project 
to correlate gene expression profiles in marine mammal cells with 
phenotypic data from quantitative imaging.  Relevant backgrounds for 
this position include cell biology, biomedical engineering, fluorescence 
microscopy, and marine biology.  Applicants will have experience with 
fluorescence microscopy and image processing, and be comfortable with 
the application of quantitative methods and statistical analysis.  
The outstanding candidate will also have knowledge of intracellular 
pathways involved in cytotoxicity, and/or experience with marine mammal 
cells.  Salary will be commensurate with experience.  Please send 
inquiries and a CV to Dr. Anne L. Plant, Leader, Cell and Tissue 
Measurements Group, Biochemical Science Division, Chemical Science and 
Technology Laboratory, Anne.plant@nist.gov, 301 975 3124.  For more 
information, visit http://www.cstl.nist.gov/biotech/Cell&TissueMeasurements/
Main_Page.htm

 POST-DOCTORAL POSITION in COD BROODSTOCK DEVELOPMENT:  Funds were 
awarded in Genome Canada’s competition III (se http://www.genomecanada.ca) 
for a research program entitled ATLANTIC COD GENOMICS AND BROODSTOCK 
DEVELOPMENT (CGP). This program, managed by Genome Atlantic 
(http://www.genomeatlantic.ca), is a partnership with industry, 
universities, government and Not-for-Profit organizations, and will 
apply genomics technologies combined with family-based selective 
breeding methodologies to identify cod with traits of commercial 
importance, such as improved growth, survival, product quality and 
yield, delayed age of sexual maturation, resistance to disease and 
stress, and desired physiological characteristics (e.g. thermal and 
hypoxia tolerance). As part of this program, we are recruiting a 
post-doctoral scientist, located at the University of Guelph, in the 
Department of Animal and Poultry Science. The position is available 
immediately with funding for at least 2 years. The post-doctoral 
scientist will be an integral part of the CGP research team, and will be 
expected to over-see the scientific program related to all aspects of 
cod genetic improvement including: 1) database development; 2) genetic 
evaluation; 3) QTL detection; 4) marker assisted selection; and 5) 
coordination of implementation of a genetic improvement program in 
collaboration with CGP researchers and industry partners, including 
The Atlantic Genome Centre, Huntsman Marine Science Centre, Memorial 
University’s Ocea Sciences Centre, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the 
Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, University of Guelph. The 
successful candidate should have a strong background in genetics and 
breeding, with an interest in the commercial application of family-based 
broodstock selection methodologies and genomics technologies to cod 
aquaculture. Further, the candidate must be comfortable working as a 
member of an inter-disciplinary research team, and have good computer, 
data analysis, communication and report writing skills. To apply please 
submit, preferably by email, a detailed curriculum vitae to: Dr. Andy 
Robinson Department of Animal and Poultry Science University of Guelph, 
Guelph, Ontario Canada N1G 2W1 E-mail: andyr@uoguelph.ca; Fax: (519) 
767-0573 Closing date: Friday 20th October 2006.  Only candidates 
selected for interview will be contacted. Preference will be given to 
candidates eligible for employment in Canada.

 Ph.D. student in fish breeding and quantitative genetics: Funds were 
awarded in Genome Canada’s competition III (se http://www.genomecanada.ca) 
for a research program entitled ATLANTIC COD GENOMICS AND BROODSTOCK 
DEVELOPMENT (CGP). This program, managed by Genome Atlantic 
(http://www.genomeatlantic.ca), is a partnership with industry, 
universities, government and Not-for-Profit organizations, and will 
apply genomics technologies combined with family-based selective 
breeding methodologies to identify cod with traits of commercial 
importance. For more information on the project and partners visit 
http://www.codgene.ca.  The student is required to conduct research as 
part of the CGP team located at the University of Guelph in Guelph, 
Ontario. The research area comprises genetic evaluation and improvement 
program development using phenotypic and genotypic information in a 
combined traditional and marker assisted selection approach for Atlantic 
cod. Traits studied include growth and development, product yield and 
quality and health and survival.  The project is working towards 
development of elite broodstock for aquaculture. Location of research: 
Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, 
Ontario, Supervisors: Drs. Andy Robinson and Ian McMillan, Project 
duration: January 2007- Dec 2009, To apply please submit, preferably by 
email, a detailed resumé / curriculum vitae to:, Dr. Andy Robinson, 
Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, 
Ontario Canada N1G 2W1, E-mail: andyr@uoguelph.ca; Fax: (519) 767-0573, 
Closing date: Friday 20th October 2006. Only candidates selected for 
interview will be contacted.

 Aquaculture Genomics community publication collection database is now 
in place: The NRSP-8 Bioinformatics Group has helped us to set up an 
Aquaculture Genomics community publication collection database
http://www.animalgenome.org/cgi-bin/angenmap/aqua_pub.pl.  In order to 
upload your papers to the database, go to Aqua-genomics community 
on-line directory http://www.animalgenome.org/cgi-bin/angenmap/aqua_dir.pl,
Click the "notebook" icon to the right of your entry; Choose "To edit 
the profile by the owner"; Select "Upload Your Publications" (in PDF or 
other common file types); Login; Fill in needed info for a paper and 
browse for the file to upload; Click "upload" button.

 If you have any items to be shared among the members of the Aquaculture 
Genomics community, please drop a note to Dr. John Liu 
(zliu@acesag.auburn.edu).