The genome sequence of the wisent (Bison bonasus)

Kun Wang, Lizhong Wang, Johannes A Lenstra, Jianbo Jian, Yongzhi Yang, Quanjun Hu, Deyong Lai, Qiang Qiu, Tao Ma, Zheng Du, Richard Abbott, Jianquan Liu

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Background: The wisent, also known as the European bison, was rescued from extinction approximately 80 years ago through the conservation of 12 individuals. Here, we present the draft genome sequence of a male wisent individual descended from this founding stock.

    Findings: A total of 366 billion base pairs (Gb) of raw reads from whole-genome sequencing of this wisent were generated using the Illumina HiSeq2000 platform. The final genome assembly (2.58 Gb) is composed of 29,074 scaffolds with an N50 of 4.7 Mb. 47.3% of the genome is composed of repetitive elements. We identified 21,542 genes and 58,385 non-coding RNAs. A phylogenetic tree based on nuclear genomes indicated sister relationships between bison and wisent and between the wisent-bison clade and yak. For 75 genes we obtained evidence of positive evolution in the wisent lineage.

    Conclusions: We provide the first genome sequence and gene annotation for the wisent. The availability of these resources will be of value for the future conservation of this endangered large mammal and for reconstructing the evolutionary history of the Bovini tribe.

    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages5
    JournalGigaScience
    Volume6
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Keywords

    • wisent
    • Bovini tribe
    • genome assembly

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