On Wednesday, February 26, at 17:30 GMT+2 we will hear two talks on #WGS Analysis and #Pathogens Research:

Talk 1

Dr. Marius Surleac, "Decoding the Microbial Spectrum: Bioinformatic Approaches for Viruses, Bacteria and Fungi", National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Matei Bals" and The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest

Keywords: bioinformatics, sequencing, microbial, viruses, bacteria, fungi

Abstract: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized pathogen research by enabling rapid, high-throughput genome sequencing of viruses, bacteria and fungi. Bioinformatics plays a critical role in processing, analyzing and interpreting huge sequencing datasets, providing a foundation for comprehensive insights into pathogen evolution, epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance. These are key aspects that contribute to global public health and disease control. For viral bioinformatics, genome assembly, variant calling and phylogenetic analyses, among other approaches, are important in tracking outbreaks, identifying emerging strains, and understanding viral mutation rates. For bacterial sequencing bioinformatics, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is widely used for strain typing, resistance gene identification and outbreak surveillance. Comparative genomics and pan-genome analyses help elucidate bacterial adaptation mechanisms and other mechanisms that contribute to pathogenicity. Fungal bioinformatics faces unique challenges due to larger, more complex genomes, some of which carrying specific traits with yet unknown roles.

Resources:

• https://www.mariussurleac.com/about
• Gomolemo Magome et al. 2025, Frontiers in Microbiology

Talk 2

Liviu Rotaru, "Automated Analysis of Whole-Genome Sequencing Data for Pathogenic Bacteria", National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Matei Bals" and The Research Institute of the University of Bucharest.

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance is increasingly recognized as one of the most significant global health threats, with profound implications for human, animal, and environmental health. Genome analysis represents a very useful tool that provides accurate and reproducible results allowing for the advancement of knowledge regarding antimicrobial resistance diagnosis, therapeutics, surveillance, transmission, and evolution. However, due to increasing complexity of bacterial genome analysis and computational power required for genomic approaches, there is a continuous need for comprehensive, user-friendly tools for data analysis. We developed Pangenome and Genomic Analysis Suite (PeGAS), to address some of these challenges by offering an all-in-one pipeline that performs a range of analyses.

Resources:

• PeGAS paper - https://academic.oup.com/bioinformaticsadvances/article/5/1/vbaf165/8195656
• PeGAS github - https://github.com/liviurotiul/PeGAS

Format: Online, free to attend, no registration is required: Zoom

Organization: YMS is organized by RSBI and is linked to RoBioinfo Seminars

Chair: Madalina Giurgiu

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