Producing parasitic helminth reference and draft genomes at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI) is producing de novo reference quality genomes for parasitic helminth species from platyhelminth tapeworms (cestodes), flukes (trematodes) and roundworms (nematodes) primarily using second-generation (Illumina and 454) sequencing technologies. The reference genomes will be followed with draft coverage from a number of related strains or species. Comparing species- or strain-specific differences will help to unravel the genomic basis for differences in the organism's biology and ultimately contribute towards identifying potential novel targets for vaccine therapies. Second-generation sequencing technologies are revolutionizing parasite genomics. This article reviews the impact that sequencing technologies has had on genomics and how it has shaped the parasitic helminth genome sequencing initiative at WTSI.