About the i5k initiative

If you use genomics to study arthropods, you are an i5k member!

The i5k initiative has a broad and inclusive mandate. We provide guidelines for genome projects, hold webinars, and maintain an up-to-date list of sequenced arthropod genomes.

Our goals are to:

• Organize the sequencing and analysis of the genomes of 5,000 arthropod species.
• Provide guidelines and best practices for arthropod genome projects and their data management.
• Help exisiting and new arthropod genome projects to find the most appropriate repository for their needs.
• Grow a community around arthropod genomes that works towards improved sequencing, assembly, annotation, and data management standards.

We encourage both collaborative and individual initiatives, avoiding at all cost the displacement of well-thought plans from individuals and institutions. In this spirit, i5K joined forces with 1KITE, the 1000 Insect Transcriptome Evolution project, which aims to study the transcriptomes of 1,000 insect species encompassing all recognized insect orders.

i5k Pilot

i5k conducted a pilot project to sequence 28 species, with the support of the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center. These species were selected from 787 community nominations.

Learn more

Find out more through our publications, or by contacting us.

Join us!

These are big goals and we won’t be able to do it without you! Active participation of the international research community is essential for the success of this initiative. Sign up for the Arthropod News mailing list, nominate a species, and attend the annual Arthropod Genomics Symposium, usually held in June (previous symposia).

We also seek information about species for which sequencing is underway or for which you are actively seeking funding. This would avoid duplication of efforts, help us maintain a reliable database of progress, and facilitate future initiatives for post-sequencing informatics and community curation.