A reference genome, mitochondrial genome and associated transcriptomes for the critically endangered swift parrot ( Lathamus discolor)

TL;DR

This paper presents a high-quality genome and transcriptome for the critically endangered swift parrot to support conservation efforts.

Contribution

The study provides a new reference genome and mitochondrial sequence for the swift parrot, along with a multi-organ transcriptome.

Findings

A high-quality reference genome assembly of 1.24 Gb was created using PacBio HiFi reads.

A complete mitochondrial genome sequence was identified and reported.

A reference transcriptome from five organs was generated to aid genome annotation.

Abstract

The swift parrot (
Lathamus discolor) is a Critically Endangered migratory parrot that breeds in Tasmania and winters on the Australian mainland. Here we provide a reference genome assembly for the swift parrot. We sequence PacBio HiFi reads to create a high-quality reference assembly and identify a complete mitochondrial sequence. We also generate a reference transcriptome from five organs to inform genome annotation. The genome was 1.24 Gb in length and consisted of 847 contigs with a contig N50 of 18.97 Gb and L50 of 20 contigs. This study provides an annotated reference assembly and transcriptomic resources for the swift parrot to assist in future conservation genomic research.

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