The Duck 1000 Genomes Project: Achievements and perspectives

The duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is not only a vital farm animal but also an excellent model for genetic dissection of economic traits. The integration of multiomics data provides a powerful approach to elucidate the genetic basis of domestication and phenotype variation. Since its inception in 2014, the Duck 1000 Genomes Project has aimed to uncover the genetic foundation of key economic traits in ducks by combining multiomics data including genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic from various natural and segregating populations. This paper summarizes the strategies and achievements of the Duck 1000 Genomes Project, highlighting the reference genome assembly, genome evolution analysis, and the identification of genes and causative mutations responsible for key economic traits in ducks. We also discuss perspectives and potential challenges in functional genomic studies that could further accelerate duck molecular breeding.