De‐novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomics

Abstract Rails are a phenotypically diverse family of birds that includes 130 species and displays a wide distribution around the world. Here we present annotated genome assemblies for four rails from Aotearoa New Zealand: two native volant species, pūkeko Porphyrio melanotus and mioweka Gallirallus...

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Main Authors: Julien Gaspar, Steve A. Trewick, Gillian C. Gibb
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-07-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11694
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author Julien Gaspar
Steve A. Trewick
Gillian C. Gibb
author_facet Julien Gaspar
Steve A. Trewick
Gillian C. Gibb
author_sort Julien Gaspar
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Rails are a phenotypically diverse family of birds that includes 130 species and displays a wide distribution around the world. Here we present annotated genome assemblies for four rails from Aotearoa New Zealand: two native volant species, pūkeko Porphyrio melanotus and mioweka Gallirallus philippensis, and two endemic flightless species takahē Porphyrio hochstetteri and weka Gallirallus australis. Using the sequence read data, heterozygosity was found to be lowest in the endemic flightless species and this probably reflects their relatively small populations. The quality checks and comparison with other rallid genomes showed that the new assemblies were of good quality. This study significantly increases the number of available rallid genomes and will enable future genomic studies on the evolution of this family.
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spelling doaj-art-39142cf8bae84e8b9d086680945161dc2025-08-20T02:50:48ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-07-01147n/an/a10.1002/ece3.11694De‐novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomicsJulien Gaspar0Steve A. Trewick1Gillian C. Gibb2School of Food Technology and Natural Sciences, Wildlife and Ecology Group Massey University Palmerston North New ZealandSchool of Food Technology and Natural Sciences, Wildlife and Ecology Group Massey University Palmerston North New ZealandSchool of Food Technology and Natural Sciences, Wildlife and Ecology Group Massey University Palmerston North New ZealandAbstract Rails are a phenotypically diverse family of birds that includes 130 species and displays a wide distribution around the world. Here we present annotated genome assemblies for four rails from Aotearoa New Zealand: two native volant species, pūkeko Porphyrio melanotus and mioweka Gallirallus philippensis, and two endemic flightless species takahē Porphyrio hochstetteri and weka Gallirallus australis. Using the sequence read data, heterozygosity was found to be lowest in the endemic flightless species and this probably reflects their relatively small populations. The quality checks and comparison with other rallid genomes showed that the new assemblies were of good quality. This study significantly increases the number of available rallid genomes and will enable future genomic studies on the evolution of this family.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11694Gallirallus australisGallirallus philippensisgenome assembliesheterozygosityPorphyrio hochstetteriPorphyrio melanotus
spellingShingle Julien Gaspar
Steve A. Trewick
Gillian C. Gibb
De‐novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomics
Ecology and Evolution
Gallirallus australis
Gallirallus philippensis
genome assemblies
heterozygosity
Porphyrio hochstetteri
Porphyrio melanotus
title De‐novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomics
title_full De‐novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomics
title_fullStr De‐novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomics
title_full_unstemmed De‐novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomics
title_short De‐novo assembly of four rail (Aves: Rallidae) genomes: A resource for comparative genomics
title_sort de novo assembly of four rail aves rallidae genomes a resource for comparative genomics
topic Gallirallus australis
Gallirallus philippensis
genome assemblies
heterozygosity
Porphyrio hochstetteri
Porphyrio melanotus
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11694
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AT steveatrewick denovoassemblyoffourrailavesrallidaegenomesaresourceforcomparativegenomics
AT gilliancgibb denovoassemblyoffourrailavesrallidaegenomesaresourceforcomparativegenomics