Functional Annotation of All Salmonid Genomes (FAASG): An international initiative supporting future salmonid research, conservation and aquaculture

• Published in: BMC Genomics
• Main Authors: Macqueen, Daniel J., Primmer, Craig R., Houston, Ross D., Nowak, Barbara F., Bernatchez, Louis, Bergseth, Steinar, Davidson, William S., Gallardo-Escárate, Cristian, Goldammer, Tom, Guiguen, Yann, Iturra, Patricia, Kijas, James W., Koop, Ben F., Lien, Sigbjørn, Maass, Alejandro, Martin, Samuel A.M., McGinnity, Philip, Montecino, Martin, Naish, Kerry A., Nichols, Krista M., Ólafsson, Kristinn, Omholt, Stig W., Palti, Yniv, Plastow, Graham S., Rexroad, Caird E. 3rd, Rise, Matthew L., Ritchie, Rachael J., Sandve, Simen R., Schulte, Patricia M., Tello, Alfredo, Vidal, Rodrigo, Vik, Jon Olav, Wargelius, Anna, Yáñez, José Manuel, The FAASG Consortium
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC Genomics 2017
• Subjects: Salmonid fish; genome biology; functional annotation; comparative biology; standardized data and metadata; data sharing; aquaculture; whole genome duplicaiton; evolution; phenotyping; British Columbia; Canada; Norway; Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-017-3862-8; https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/9968

We describe an emerging initiative - the ‘Functional Annotation of All Salmonid Genomes’ (FAASG), which will leverage the extensive trait diversity that has evolved since a whole genome duplication event in the salmonid ancestor, to develop an integrative understanding of the functional genomic basis of phenotypic variation. The outcomes of FAASG will have diverse applications, ranging from improved understanding of genome evolution, to improving the efficiency and sustainability of aquaculture production, supporting the future of fundamental and applied research in an iconic fish lineage of major societal importance. The first FAASG meeting (June 2016, https://www.faasg.org/publications/toronto-workshop-report) and the second meeting (January 2017, https://www.faasg.org/workshops/san-diego-workshop-january-2017) were organized and supported by the International Cooperation to Sequence the Atlantic Salmon Genome (ICSASG), funded by: The Research Council of Norway (RCN), The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF), Genome British Columbia (GBC, Canada)), The Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO) and the Innova Chile Committee (InnovaChile). FAASG has also received support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK) (ref: BB/P02582X/1). Initial FAASG pilot studies (currently in process) are being funded by the ICSASG and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through NIFA National Research Support Project 8. Faculty Reviewed