title: Baiji genomes reveal low genetic variability and new insights into secondary aquatic adaptations.
abstract: The baiji, or Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer), is a flagship species for the conservation of aquatic animals and ecosystems in the Yangtze River of China; however, this species has now been recognized as functionally extinct. Here we report a high-quality draft genome and three re-sequenced genomes of L. vexillifer using Illumina short-read sequencing technology. Comparative genomic analyses reveal that cetaceans have a slow molecular clock and molecular adaptations to their aquatic lifestyle. We also find a significantly lower number of heterozygous single nucleotide polymorphisms in the baiji compared to all other mammalian genomes reported thus far. A reconstruction of the demographic history of the baiji indicates that a bottleneck occurred near the end of the last deglaciation, a time coinciding with a rapid decrease in temperature and the rise of eustatic sea level.
authors.affiliation: 1] Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China [2] Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China [3].
authors.forename: Xuming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Fengming
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Shixia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Guangyi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Kangli
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chengcheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Yunxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Haolong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Xuejiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yuefeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jiajian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Bangqing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhengfei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Junxiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xinming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Bingyao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Weiqing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Junyi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shengkai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Fuwen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Kaiya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004289:Dolphins / Q000235:genetics*; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D005260:Female; D015723:Gene Library; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016678:Genome; D006579:Heterozygote; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D045483:Rivers; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA