In March 2007, the Washington University Genome Sequencing Center released a 6x whole genome shotgun (WGS) assembly of the Ornithorhynchus anatinus (duck-billed platypus) genome - Ornithorhynchus_anatinus-5.0.1. The platypus genome sequence comes from a female nicknamed 'Glennie' collected in New South Wales, Australia. Males are the heterogametic sex and the male platypus genome is composed of 21 paired chromosomes and 10 unpaired chromosomes (X1-5 and Y1-5). The platypus genome is composed of chromosomes of vastly different sizes identified as either macro- or microchromosomes. The current assembly lacks several whole chromosomes (8, 9, 13, 16, 19, 21, X4, Y1-5) and chromosome arms (X2p, X3p, 11q, 14q, 15q, 17q, 18q and 20q). The NCBI Ornithorhynchus anatinus build 1.1 (Oan1.1) includes the WGS assembly and a complete mitochondrial genome.

The NCBI Map Viewer provides graphical displays of features on the platypus genome sequence assembly. Map features that can be seen along the sequence include NCBI contigs (the 'Contig' map), the WGS sequences (the 'Component' map), and the location of genes, STSs, ESTs, and Gnomon predicted gene models. Available Documentation provides tutorials, statistics, and information about resource features and methods used.

You can find markers of interest by submitting a query against the whole genome, or one chromosome at a time. The results are indicated both graphically, as tick marks on the chromosome, or in a tabular format. Alternatively, you can browse a chromosome by clicking on a chromosome link in the ideogram above. Use the "Maps & Options" window, available on individual chromosome displays, to configure your display.

Please note that other genomes can also be viewed in the NCBI Map Viewer resource. The Map Viewer Home Page provides a current list of available genomes. Consider also reviewing the resources listed on the Genomic Biology site.

Available Documentation:

• NCBI Handbook: Map Viewer chapter - resource description
• NCBI Handbook: Map Viewer Exercises - tutorials and examples
• Map Viewer Help - details about navigation and customizing your display
• Genome Assembly - description of genome assembly and annotation process
• Gnomon - description of NCBI's Hidden Markov Model (HMM) ab initio prediction program

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