Paroedura picta isolate:Pp20150507F | breed:not applicable | cultivar:not applicable Genome sequencing
Sequencing the genomes of reptiles, as well as mammals and birds, would aid comparative studies on amniotes by providing more comprehensive coverage to help understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning evolutionary changes. We chose the Madagascar ground gecko (Paroedura picta), a promising study system, especially in developmental biology. For this species, we have demonstrated chromosome-scale genome assembly by employing HiFi long-reads, optical mapping, and Hi-C scaffolding. Previously, we obtained short-read-based whole genome assembly (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-018-0509-4; https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16146) and transcriptome data for several tissues (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-2007-1), and these data facilitated various reptile studies while allowing us to demonstrate that the fate of a duplicated gene can be affected by the intrinsic properties of its genomic location in addition to the function of the gene product, which can persist for hundreds of millions of years.