Ancestral Chromosome-Level Assemblies Reveal Posthybridization Genome Evolution in the New Mexico Whiptail Lizard (Aspidoscelis neomexicanus).

ABSTRACT: Unisexual species of whiptail lizards in the genus Aspidoscelis arose by interspecific hybridization. They reproduce clonally through parthenogenesis and are thought to maintain the fixed heterozygosity that resulted from their hybrid origin by avoiding recombination between homeologous chromosomes. In the absence of chromosome-level assemblies for the sexual progenitor species, questions relating to the long-term consequences of clonal reproduction have remained largely unanswered. Here, we present chromosome-level genome assemblies for A. marmoratus and A. arizonae, the parental species of the unisexual A. neomexicanus. Using these references, we have analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from both wild and laboratory-reared A. neomexicanus individuals as well as newly generated F1 hybri

SUBMITTER: Ho DV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12720138 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature