A Chromosome-Length Assembly of the Hawaiian Monk Seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi): A History of “Genetic Purging” and Genomic Stability

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dc.citation.articleNumber1270en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber7en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleGenesen_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber13en_US
dc.contributor.authorMohr, David W.en_US
dc.contributor.authorGaughran, Stephen J.en_US
dc.contributor.authorPaschall, Justinen_US
dc.contributor.authorNaguib, Ahmeden_US
dc.contributor.authorPang, Andy Wing Chunen_US
dc.contributor.authorDudchenko, Olgaen_US
dc.contributor.authorAiden, Erez Liebermanen_US
dc.contributor.authorChurch, Deanna M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorScott, Alan F.en_US
dc.contributor.orgCenter for Theoretical Biological Physicsen_US
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-09T17:09:30Zen_US
dc.date.available2022-08-09T17:09:30Zen_US
dc.date.issued2022en_US
dc.description.abstractThe Hawaiian monk seal (HMS) is the single extant species of tropical earless seals of the genus Neomonachus. The species survived a severe bottleneck in the late 19th century and experienced subsequent population declines until becoming the subject of a NOAA-led species recovery effort beginning in 1976 when the population was fewer than 1000 animals. Like other recovering species, the Hawaiian monk seal has been reported to have reduced genetic heterogeneity due to the bottleneck and subsequent inbreeding. Here, we report a chromosomal reference assembly for a male animal produced using a variety of methods. The final assembly consisted of 16 autosomes, an X, and portions of the Y chromosomes. We compared variants in this animal to other HMS and to a frequently sequenced human sample, confirming about 12% of the variation seen in man. To confirm that the reference animal was representative of the HMS, we compared his sequence to that of 10 other individuals and noted similarly low variation in all. Variation in the major histocompatibility (MHC) genes was nearly absent compared to the orthologous human loci. Demographic analysis predicts that Hawaiian monk seals have had a long history of small populations preceding the bottleneck, and their current low levels of heterozygosity may indicate specialization to a stable environment. When we compared our reference assembly to that of other species, we observed significant conservation of chromosomal architecture with other pinnipeds, especially other phocids. This reference should be a useful tool for future evolutionary studies as well as the long-term management of this species.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMohr, David W., Gaughran, Stephen J., Paschall, Justin, et al.. "A Chromosome-Length Assembly of the Hawaiian Monk Seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi): A History of “Genetic Purging” and Genomic Stability." <i>Genes,</i> 13, no. 7 (2022) MDPI: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13071270.en_US
dc.identifier.digitalgenes-13-01270en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/genes13071270en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/113086en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherMDPIen_US
dc.rightsThis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.titleA Chromosome-Length Assembly of the Hawaiian Monk Seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi): A History of “Genetic Purging” and Genomic Stabilityen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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