New high-quality reference genome published for water buffalo

Water buffalo considered economically important livestock species around the world.

Globally, the water buffalo is an economically important livestock species, contributing to global agriculture with its meat, milk, hides and draft power.

Now, researchers have generated a new assembly of the water buffalo genome with hundreds of gaps fewer than previously achieved for the human and goat genomes, which the researchers said helps assess the quality of the genome assembly.

The Roslin Institute in Scotland contributed to this study, which was led by professor John Williams at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

According to an announcement from Roslin, its scientists generated more than 21 billion RNA sequencing reads of more than 50 tissues, providing a comprehensive gene expression atlas for the water buffalo. A significant part of the data was used to annotate the buffalo genome, which is fundamental to understanding the function of each gene of the genome.

The results will help both biologists and farmers, because a high-quality reference genome is necessary to understand the biology of a species, manage genetic diversity and, in the case of livestock, apply genomic selection for genetic improvement, Roslin said.

In this study, the researchers combined a number of techniques (such as long-read sequencing with serial Chicago and Hi-C scaffolding), which made it possible to produce an exceptionally high-quality, chromosome-level genome assembly, the announcement said. The researchers demonstrated that by combining these techniques, the number of gaps in the genome can be significantly reduced.

"This study has provided an exceptional reference genome for the water buffalo, facilitating research into the genetics of this important livestock species. At The Roslin Institute, we contributed to this international study by generating billions of RNA sequencing reads, providing valuable information on where genes are expressed in the body and their functions," said Dr. Rachel Young with Roslin.

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