Department of Genetics
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Campus Box 7614
Raleigh, NC 27695-7614
Tel: 919.515.5810
Fax: 919.515.3355
Email: trudy_mackay@ncsu.edu
February 5, 2009
Spanish Research Science Agency
To Whom It May Concern:
Re: “Genomic analysis of polymorphism and divergence in Drosophila melanogaster”
PI: Dr. Antonio Barbadilla
I am writing to strongly support this application. I am the co-PI (with Stephen Richards and
Richard Gibbs of the Baylor College of Medicine Sequencing Center) of a project to develop a
Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) of 192 inbred fly lines derived from a single natural population as a community resource. These lines are a living library of common polymorphisms, and are being re-sequenced using next generation sequencing technology by the Baylor College of Medicine Sequencing Center. The DGRP flies constitute a genetic resource that can be shared among members of the community and phenotyped for any trait of interest, including intermediate phenotypes such as whole genome transcript abundance and levels of proteins and metabolites – and in different environments. The DRGP flies will enable in silico high resolution mapping of genes affecting multiple complex traits, including a battery of behavioral traits, providing an unprecedented opportunity to understand pleiotropic relationships among traits; identify modules of correlated transcripts associated with quantitative traits; and compare these modules across species.
The DGRP project is funded by the US National Human Genome Research Institute. This funding
(approximately 4 million US$) only covers the sequencing costs. Each researcher involved in the handling and analyses of data must obtain his/her own source of funding. Dr. Barbadilla proposes to (i) create and maintain a Web server containing the high resolution sequence polymorphism map of each strain, and (ii) perform part of the genome wide molecular population genetics analyses of the data. These are two essential components for the success of the whole project.
The platform of genetic diversity already developed by Dr. Barbadilla ’s research group and his extensive experience with analyzing genetic data are guarantee the success of this project. In consequence this project has my highest recommendation. Unveiling the genetic basis of phenotypic traits is one of the main endeavors of the present biomedical research.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need further information.