Refinement of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) reference genome increases continuity and completeness.

ABSTRACT: The Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) is an important top predator and indicator of the health of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Although abundant, this species narrowly escaped extinction due to historical sealing and is currently declining as a consequence of climate change. Genomic tools are essential for understanding these anthropogenic impacts and for predicting long-term viability. However, the current reference genome ("arcGaz3") shows considerable room for improvement in terms of both completeness and contiguity. We therefore combined PacBio sequencing, haplotype-aware HiRise assembly, and scaffolding based on Hi-C information to generate a refined assembly of the Antarctic fur seal reference genome ("arcGaz4_h1"). The new assembly is 2.53 Gb long, has a scaffold N50 of 55

SUBMITTER: Hench K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11540311 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature