Chromosomal-level reference genome assembly of muskox (Ovibos moschatus) from Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic, a resource for conservation genomics.

ABSTRACT: The muskox (Ovibos moschatus), an integral component and iconic symbol of arctic biocultural diversity, is under threat by rapid environmental disruptions from climate change. We report a chromosomal-level haploid genome assembly of a muskox from Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The assembly has a contig N50 of 44.7 Mbp, a scaffold N50 of 112.3 Mbp, a complete representation (100%) of the BUSCO v5.2.2 set of 9225 mammalian marker genes and is anchored to the 24 chromosomes of the muskox. Tabulation of heterozygous single nucleotide variants in our specimen revealed a very low level of genetic diversity, which is consistent with recent reports of the muskox having the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity among the ungulates. While muskox populations are currently showing no ove

SUBMITTER: Lok S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11405533 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature