In-house analysis pipeline for next generation genome sequencing speeds up innovation

Chr. Hansen has taken a major leap forward through the implementation of the bioinformatics suites from CLC bio and Genostar.

“We are proud to announce that our continued focus on genomics and bioinformatics now allows us to carry out complete analysis of next generation sequences in-house. Our pipeline takes advantage of the bioinformatics suites from CLC bio and Genostar, combined with tools developed by our own scientists” says Martin B. Pedersen, Senior Manager, Physiology, Innovation, Chr. Hansen.

“Over the past years we have acquired almost 200 genome sequences of our most important lactic acid bacteria, including most production strains. The genome sequences contain the genetic codes, i.e. genes which define the properties of the strains – and thus the cultures we sell to our customers. It is therefore of the utmost importance that we can extract as much information as possible,” he explains.

“We have taken a major leap forward. This platform allows us to understand and improve our strains in a more directed way, including deciphering the mode of action of new strains and ensuring IPR.”

A platform second-to-none
“We have always had a strategy that the competencies to carry out such central analyses should reside within the company. In line with this, we set up two bioinformatics projects to expand into analysis of next generation sequences (NGS). These projects have now been successfully completed, resulting in a platform that is second-to-none within the industry.

Within a matter of hours we can assemble raw NGS data into complete metabolic maps of our strains. This can be used to search for unwanted genes, for instance genes encoding antibiotic resistance, for comparison to other strains, and generation of pan-genomes, i.e. the genetic content of an entire species,” highlights Pedersen.

Great collaboration with external software suppliers
Besides strong internal collaboration between several departments to develop and optimize the analysis pipeline Chr. Hansen has benefitted from great collaboration with external software suppliers:

“We are using CLC bio for assembly of the NGS data and Metabolic Pathway Builder & KoriBlast from Genostar for the more gene-oriented analyses such as gene-finding, annotation, comparative genomics and metabolic mapping,” explains Chr. Hansen’s expert.

Seamless connection
Seamless connection between the CLC bio and Genostar platforms offers the benefit of using both platforms in different stages of the NGS analysis pipeline.

Lasse Görlitz, Director of Communications at CLC bio, adds: “With the increase in organizations working with NGS, we are most happy to see our enterprise platform becoming an integral part of analysis pipelines in market-leading organizations like Chr. Hansen. Partnering with specialists like Genostar to provide complete NGS analysis workflows brings excellent value to our customers."

Adrienne Kennard, Chief Operating Officer at Genostar states: “We are very pleased to be a strategic partner for Chr. Hansen’s genomics research and NGS data analysis pipeline. Integrated tools for characterizing and comparing microbial strains are a key feature of the Genostar’s Metabolic Pathway Builder platform and fit perfectly with Chr. Hansen’s innovative strain development programs.”



About CLC bio
CLC bio is the world's leading bioinformatics solution provider. Next Generation Sequencing is a major focus area and CLC bio delivers the first and only comprehensive cross-platform enterprise platform, which can analyze and visualize genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic data from all major platforms, like Illumina, SOLiD and Ion Torrent by Life Technologies, 454 by Roche, as well as PacBio. For further information, please visit www.clcbio.com

Contact: Lasse Görlitz, Director of Communications, phone: +1 (617) 765 0687
E-mail: lgoerlitz@clcbio.com

About Genostar
Genostar is a leading provider of bioinformatics software, databases and complete data analysis services for microbial research. Genostar delivers comprehensive solutions for analysis of genomic, proteic, transcriptomic and metabolic data that enable researchers to characterize and compare their microbial organisms and centralize and manage their results in one platform that is compatible with all major operating systems and data formats. For further information, please visit www.genostar.com

Contact: Adrienne Kennard, Chief Operating Officer, phone : +33 476 97 10 70
E-mail: adrienne.kennard@genostar.com