Geophilimorph Centipede Genome Project

Image source: Dr. Carlo Brena, University of Cambridge

About the Project

The BCM-HGSC sequenced the genome of the Geophilimorph centipede (Strigamia maritima). Results of this international collaboration of over 100 scientists from 12 countries are published in the online journal PLOS Biology. This work is part of the Ecdysozoa white paper, and is funded by the NHGRI.

We would like to thank everyone involved for making this project such a success.

Read article in PLOS Biology.

Read full announcement in BCM News.

The myrapods are likely a sister group to the insects and crustaceans. Centipedes are carnivores and venomous. S. maritima is a model for segmentation with variation in the number of segments with and between populations.

As a Geophilimorph centipede, female Strigamia guard their eggs.

We have produced 15X genome sequence coverage in 454 fragment technology and 30X linking coverage in 3 and 8kb pe libraries and have generated an assembly.

Genomic Resources