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Steven Salzberg from TIGR (The Institute for Genomic Research) and his co-researchers found three new species of Wolbachia, a parasitic bacterium that infects most insects.
The scientists analysed publicly available raw genetic data found in the Trace Archive, an open repository of genetic code. DNA sequences of several species are available online, such as the the DNA code of Wolbachia. Because these data are published by the Trace Archive in raw form, they may contain DNA from more than a single organism: For example, from a host and a parasite or from two species living together in symbiosis.
The analysed data are the genome sequences of 7 fruit fly (Drosophila) species, infected with Wolbachia. Although the data were publicly available, nobody had found that they included the footprints of 3 previously unknown species of Wolbachia, which include 464 new genes not found in known species.
It is a remarkable discovery which "demonstrates how powerful the public release of raw sequencing data can be", the researchers say. They submitted their findings to GenBank, another open repository of DNA data.
The idea that DNA sequences can be public information is similar to the open-source concept that help software developers create high-quality computer software: In contrast with closed-source, if the software code is publicly available then more programmers will have a look at it and therefore more software defects will be fixed.
Similarly, in Biology and Genetics, if the raw DNA sequences are publicly available then more scientists will analyse them and more discoveries will be made.
The text of this article is Copyright (C) 2005 by Nikolaos S. Karastathis; you are welcome to republish it and use it under the CC-By-SA-2 licence, as long as this notice and a reference link to its original location remain intact: http://portal.wikinerds.org/wolbachia-new-species-open-repository-feb2005
- For more information, see the Press Release from Eurekalert.org
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Notice: The image shows Escherichia coli (E. coli), a bacterium, and is in the public domain (more info).