def read_genome_list(input_file):

    """
    Function used to read the genome list. The output is a dictionary with the genome list
    (fasta_prefix -> new_prefix) and the total number of genomes in the list

    """

    genome_count = 0
    genome_info = {}
    for line in open(input_file, 'r'):
        line = line.rstrip()
        element = line.split("\t")
        genome_info[element[0]] = element[2]
        genome_count += 1

    return genome_info, genome_count