Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Viral Diseases in Potato

Viruses are among the most significant biotic constraints in potato production. In the century since the discovery of the first potato viruses we have learned more and more about these pathogens, and this has accelerated over the last decade with the advent of high-throughput sequencing in the study of plant virology. Most reviews of potato viruses have focused on temperate potato production systems of Europe and North America. However, potato production is rapidly expanding in tropical and subtropical agro-ecologies of the world in Asia and Africa, which present a unique set of problems for the crop and affect the way viruses can be managed. In this chapter we review the latest discoveries in potato virology as well as the changes in virus populations that have occurred over the last 50 years, with a particular focus on countries in the (sub-)tropics. We also review the different management approaches including use of resistance, seed systems, and cultural approaches that have been employed in different countries and reflect on what can be learnt from past research on potato viruses, and what can be expected in the future facing climate change. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020.Peer reviewe