Genome assembly of the Antipodean and Gibson's albatrosses (Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis and D. a. gibsoni).

Abstract

Albatrosses are a highly threatened family of seabirds that are facing widespread declines, largely attributed to incidental fisheries bycatch mortality. Protection relies upon sound knowledge of distinct breeding units, but population structure has been difficult to detect due to low levels of genetic differentiation between closely related taxa. Whole-genome data have not yet been used to investigate this issue, and genomic resources for albatrosses are currently limited to a few fragmented genome assemblies. Here, we present high-quality reference genomes for both the Antipodean and Gibson's albatrosses (Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis and D. a. gibsoni), sequenced using Oxford Nanopore Technology and assembled with the Flye assembly algorithm. Both assemblies were around 1.25 Gb in length and comprised 255 and 313 scaffolds for the Antipodean and Gibson's assemblies, respectively. Although not chromosome-resolution assemblies the largest 60 scaffolds of each genome showed BUSCO completeness of ~ 97%. As well, most chromosomes are likely represented by only a few large scaffolds, as suggested by alignment of the two genomes, and alignment of each genome to an available chromosome-level assembly of Cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis). These two high-quality reference genomes for albatross will allow population-level analysis of genomic diversity, gene flow and adaptive diversity to inform taxonomy and conservation management in a changing world.