Bos taurus breed:Taiwan Wagyu Genome sequencing
Whole-genome sequencing of Taiwan Wagyu cattle (Bos taurus), a unique indigenous breed from Taiwan. Taiwan Wagyu cattle originated from Japanese draft cattle introduced to Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period. After 1945, a herd was relocated to Qingtiangang, Yangmingshan, where they remained genetically isolated without crossbreeding with other breeds for over seven decades, forming a distinct population. SNP50 chip analysis revealed high homozygosity (0.839), low observed heterozygosity (0.161), and minor allele frequency of 0.108. Phylogenetic analyses using UPGMA, Ward's method, PCA, and neighbor-joining demonstrate that while Taiwan Wagyu cattle are closely related to Japanese Wagyu, they constitute a genetically independent population distinct from both Western and other Asian cattle breeds. This project aims to generate a reference genome assembly for Taiwan Wagyu cattle to support conservation efforts and characterize the genomic features of this rare Taiwanese germplasm resource.