Genomics of Euglena

The genome of Euglena is highly complex for a simple free living cell. The total amount of DNA is similar to that of Human cells and there are more genes encoded. It is not clear why Euglena needs all these genes. The aim of this project is to sequence related Euglena, at transcriptomic, genomic and metagenomic levels. Euglena controls gene expression at post transcriptionally, meaning that the transcriptome at any given time is a good representation of the genome, and avoids the difficulties of sequencing their large complex genome. Comparing the gene between different species will help us to understand the capacity of these cells.