Seligmann, W. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2024

A highly contiguous genome assembly for the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)

The Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) is a small songbird in the New World Warbler family (Parulidae) that exhibits phenotypic and ecological differences across a widespread distribution and is important to Californias riparian habitat conservation. Here, we present a high-quality de novo genome assembly of a vouchered female Yellow Warbler from southern California. Using HiFi long-read and Omni-C proximity sequencing technologies, we generated a 1.22 Gb assembly including 687 scaffolds with a contig N50 of 6.80 Mb, scaffold N50 of 21.18 Mb, and a BUSCO completeness score of 96.0%. This highly contiguous genome assembly provides an essential resource for understanding the history of gene flow, divergence, and local adaptation and can inform conservation management of this charismatic bird species.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Reference genome of the bicolored carpenter ant, Camponotus vicinus

Carpenter ants in the genus Camponotus are large, conspicuous ants that are abundant and ecologically influential in many terrestrial ecosystems. The bicolored carpenter ant, C. vicinus Mayr, is distributed across a wide range of elevations and latitudes in western North America, where it is a prominent scavenger and predator. Here, we present a high-quality genome assembly of C. vicinus from a sample collected in Sonoma County, CA, near the type locality of the species. This genome assembly consists of 38 scaffolds spanning 302.74 Mb, with contig N50 of 15.9Mb, scaffold N50 of 19.9 Mb, and BUSCO completeness of 99.2%. This genome sequence will be a valuable resource for exploring the evolutionary ecology of C. vicinus and carpenter ants generally. It also provides an important tool for clarifying cryptic diversity within the C. vicinus species complex, a genetically diverse set of populations, some of which are quite localized and of conservation interest.

genomics↗