In February 2006, the Macaque Genome Sequencing Consortium, which includes the Baylor College of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center, the Washington University Genome Sequencing Center, and the J. Craig Venter Joint Technology Center, released a WGS assembly of the rhesus macaque genome - v.1.0, Mmul_051212. The source of the DNA was from a female rhesus macaque at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio. The NCBI Macaca mulatta build 1.1 (Mmu_1.1) includes the WGS assembly and a complete mitochondrial genome. The rhesus macaque genome is organized in 20 pairs of autosomes and a pair of sex chromosomes, X and Y. The whole genome sequence coverage is approximately 6X and the assembly coverage 5.1X. The total length of all contigs is 2.87 Gb. The total length of the assembly is 3.01 Gb when the gaps between contigs in scaffolds are also counted.

The NCBI Map Viewer provides graphical displays of features on the rhesus macaque 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.

The NCBI Map Viewer also presents a radiation hybrid map for the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) genome. The RH map, created using a 5000 rad RH panel as described by Murphy et al. 2005 and Murphy et al. 2001, has an average resolution of 3.5 Mb and contains 802 markers covering all 20 autosomes and the X and Y chromosomes. A description of the rhesus macaque chromosome naming system adopted by NCBI can be found here.

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. 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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