Genomics will help understand how extreme conditions in early life affect success and other research questions.
New insights into badger biology, pandemic and climate change response are underway, after scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Oxford completed the European badger reference genome. Work is part of Darwin Tree of Life Project to sequence all species in Great Britain and Ireland.
The genomepublicly accessible to researchers worldwide, will allow scientists to answer new questions about the biology and evolution of honey badgers, such as how genetics affect their ability to resilience to disease and climate change.
European badger (Melting) is an iconic mammal that survives in the wild across most of Europe. This species is highly adaptable and can thrive in diverse habitats, from mountains, deserts to cities. With its close cousins in Eastern Europe, Asia and Japan, it is a good model by which to gauge the impacts of climate change.
The European badger is especially high in the United Kingdom. In recent years, it has been the subject of a controversial culling aimed at reducing the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in the herd. Although honey badgers are susceptible to bovine tuberculosis and can transmit the disease to livestock, there is no convincing evidence that reducing badger populations will help reduce outbreaks in livestock.
To generate the genome, researchers at Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (Wild CRU) collected blood samples from a honey badger with both its parents in Wytham. Woods, as part of a long-term study examining the ecology, behavior, and genetics of honey badgers. . DNA from these samples was extracted, sequenced, and these data were then assembled into a complete, high-quality reference genome at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Using data from the mother and father means that the genome sequence can be resolved into separate contributions from each father and mother.
Functional regions of the genome, such as chromosomes and genes, were annotated by bioinformatics researchers at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) prior to their public publication. researchers worldwide.
Source: Sanger Institute
