An improved pig reference genome sequence to enable pig genetics and genomics research.
Gigascience 2020;
9:5858065. [PMID:
32543654 PMCID:
PMC7448572 DOI:
10.1093/gigascience/giaa051]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 140] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Revised: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
The domestic pig (Sus scrofa) is important both as a food source and
as a biomedical model given its similarity in size, anatomy, physiology, metabolism,
pathology, and pharmacology to humans. The draft reference genome (Sscrofa10.2) of a
purebred Duroc female pig established using older clone-based sequencing methods was
incomplete, and unresolved redundancies, short-range order and orientation errors, and
associated misassembled genes limited its utility.
Results
We present 2 annotated highly contiguous chromosome-level genome assemblies created
with more recent long-read technologies and a whole-genome shotgun strategy, 1 for the
same Duroc female (Sscrofa11.1) and 1 for an outbred, composite-breed male (USMARCv1.0).
Both assemblies are of substantially higher (>90-fold) continuity and accuracy than
Sscrofa10.2.
Conclusions
These highly contiguous assemblies plus annotation of a further 11 short-read
assemblies provide an unprecedented view of the genetic make-up of this important
agricultural and biomedical model species. We propose that the improved Duroc assembly
(Sscrofa11.1) become the reference genome for genomic research in pigs.
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