title: Next-generation sequencing reveals genomic features in the Japanese quail.
abstract: The Japanese quail has several advantages as a laboratory animal for biological and biomedical investigations. In this study, the draft genome of the Japanese quail was sequenced and assembled using next-generation sequencing technology. To improve the quality of the assembly, the sequence reads from the Japanese quail were aligned against the reference genome of the chicken. The final draft assembly consisted of 1.75 Gbp with an N50 contig length of 11,409 bp. On the basis of the draft genome sequence obtained, we developed 100 microsatellite markers and used these markers to evaluate the genetic variability and diversity of 11 lines of Japanese quail. Furthermore, we identified Japanese quail orthologs of spermatogenesis markers and analyzed their expression using in situ hybridization. The Japanese quail genome sequence obtained in the present study could enhance the value of this species as a model animal.
authors.affiliation: Genome Research Center, NODAI Research Institute, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 1-1-1, Sakuragaoka, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryouka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawahara-Miki
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nunome
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimmura
authors.forename: Takehito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuwayama
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Takaharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kono
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003370:Coturnix / Q000235:genetics*; D016678:Genome; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA