In an effort to inform members of the research community about our annotation methods, to provide training for collaborators and other scientists who use the MicroScope platfom, and to inform scientific public on the analysis available in PkGDB (Prokaryotic Genome DataBase), we have developed a 4.5-day course in Microbial Genome Annotation and Comparative Analysis using the MaGe graphical interfaces.

This course will familiarize attendees with LABGeM’s annotation pipeline and the manual annotation software MaGe (Magnifying Genome) . No specific bioinformatics skill is required: detailed instruction on the algorithm developed in each annotation methods can be found in specific training courses on «Genomic sequences analysis». Here we focus on the general idea behind each method and, above all, the way you can interpret the corresponding results and combine them with other evidences in order to change or correct the current automatic functional annotation of a given gene, if necessary.

This course will also describe how to perform effective searches and analysis of procaryotic data using the graphical functionalities of the MaGe’s interfaces. Because of the numerous pre-computation available in our system (results of “common” annotation tools, synteny with all complete bacterial genomes, metabolic pathway reconstruction, fusion/fission events, genomic islands, …), many practical exercises allow attendees to get familiar with the use the MaGe graphical interfaces in order to efficiently explore these sets of results.