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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Simon MaddockORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
© The Author(s) 2024.Amphibians represent a diverse group of tetrapods, marked by deep divergence times between their three systematic orders and families. Studying amphibian biology through the genomics lens increases our understanding of the features of this animal class and that of other terrestrial vertebrates. The need for amphibian genomic resources is more urgent than ever due to the increasing threats to this group. Amphibians are one of the most imperiled taxonomic groups, with approximately 41% of species threatened with extinction due to habitat loss, changes in land use patterns, disease, climate change, and their synergistic effects. Amphibian genomic resources have provided a better understanding of ontogenetic diversity, tissue regeneration, diverse life history and reproductive modes, anti-predator strategies, and resilience and adaptive responses. They also serve as essential models for studying broad genomic traits, such as evolutionary genome expansions and contractions, as they exhibit the widest range of genome sizes among all animal taxa and possess multiple mechanisms of genetic sex determination. Despite these features, genome sequencing of amphibians has significantly lagged behind that of other vertebrates, primarily due to the challenges of assembling their large, repeat-rich genomes and the relative lack of societal support. The emergence of long-read sequencing technologies, combined with advanced molecular and computational techniques that improve scaffolding and reduce computational workloads, is now making it possible to address some of these challenges. To promote and accelerate the production and use of amphibian genomics research through international coordination and collaboration, we launched the Amphibian Genomics Consortium (AGC, https://mvs.unimelb.edu.au/amphibian-genomics-consortium) in early 2023. This burgeoning community already has more than 282 members from 41 countries. The AGC aims to leverage the diverse capabilities of its members to advance genomic resources for amphibians and bridge the implementation gap between biologists, bioinformaticians, and conservation practitioners. Here we evaluate the state of the field of amphibian genomics, highlight previous studies, present challenges to overcome, and call on the research and conservation communities to unite as part of the AGC to enable amphibian genomics research to “leap” to the next level.
Author(s): Kosch TA, Torres-Sanchez M, Liedtke HC, Summers K, Yun MH, Crawford AJ, Maddock ST, Ahammed MS, Araujo VLN, Bertola LV, Bucciarelli GM, Carne A, Carneiro CM, Chan KO, Chen Y, Crottini A, da Silva JM, Denton RD, Dittrich C, Espregueira Themudo G, Farquharson KA, Forsdick NJ, Gilbert E, Che J, Katzenback BA, Kotharambath R, Levis NA, Marquez R, Mazepa G, Mulder KP, Muller H, O'Connell MJ, Orozco-terWengel P, Palomar G, Petzold A, Pfennig DW, Pfennig KS, Reichert MS, Robert J, Scherz MD, Siu-Ting K, Snead AA, Stock M, Stuckert AMM, Stynoski JL, Tarvin RD, Wollenberg Valero KC, Wogan GOU, Wilkinson M, West M, Voros J, Vieites DR, Vicuna L, Venu G, Vasudevan K, Strowbridge N, Skerratt LF, Silva AS, Schulte L, Schneider RG, Sapkota S, Sang Y, Sabino-Pinto J, Ron SR, Rodriguez A, Recknagel H, Rahman M, Power ML, Pollet N, Perez-Mendoza H, Owens JB, Nneji LM, Nicolai MPJ, Nguyen TT, Nemeshazi E, Mobarak H, Mendez MA, McGuire JA, Lyra ML, Lyons TA, Lougheed SC, Lemmon EM, Lechuga-Paredes P, Lan T, Keogh JS, Jongsma GFM, Iyiola OA, Hrbek T, Poveda MH, Goutte S, Goodman MJ, Gao W, Gagliardi-Urrutia G, Funk WC, Elmer KR, Eisawi KAE, Deaton LJ, De la Riva I, Chai J, Cayuela H, Calatayud N, Brown RM, Brennan IG, Borzee A, Bittencourt-Silva GB, Biello R, Basanta MD, Barrow LN, Allain SJR, Acevedo AA
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: BMC Genomics
Year: 2024
Volume: 25
Issue: 1
Online publication date: 01/11/2024
Acceptance date: 14/10/2024
ISSN (electronic): 1471-2164
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-024-10899-7
DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10899-7
PubMed id: 39487448
Data Access Statement: No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
