Re-annotation of eightDrosophilagenomes

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The sequenced genomes of theDrosophilaphylogeny are a central resource for comparative work supporting the understanding of theDrosophila melanogasternon-mammalian model system. These have also facilitated evolutionary studies on the selected and random differences that distinguish the thousands of extant species ofDrosophila. However, full utility has been hampered by uneven genome annotation. We have generated a large expression profile dataset for nine species ofDrosophilaand trained a transcriptome assembly approach onD. melanogasterthat best matched the extensively curated annotation. We then applied this to the other species to add more than 10000 transcript models per species. We also developed new orthologs to facilitate cross-species comparisons. We validated the new annotation of the distantly relatedDrosophila grimshawiwith an extensive collection of newly sequenced cDNAs. This re-annotation will facilitate understanding both the core commonalities and the species differences in this important group of model organisms, and suggests a strategy for annotating the many forthcoming genomes covering the tree of life.