Once widespread in South-Eastern Australia, today the Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) is only found in two southernmost islands, Tasmania and Bruny Island. This special marsupial is one of only a few large marsupial predators left in Australia and has experienced strong population declines over the last century. While significant conservation efforts for this species are underway, prior to this project no genomic resources existed to guide management of these translocation attempts. Lead by P.I Charles Feigin, this Wild Genomes project sought to lay the groundwork for informed management of Eastern quoll populations through the provision of these resources.
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Thanks to this project, the eastern quoll’s chromosome-scale reference genome is now complete and publicly accessible, along with gene annotations supported by multi-tissue transcriptomes. This reference genome is among the most complete marsupial assemblies currently available. Using this assembly, it has been possible to infer the species’ demographic history and identify preliminary evidence of historical demographic declines, reinforcing the value of future population genomic studies aimed at defining diversity, population structure, and genetic load in this species.
In addition, whole genome datasets for 30 eastern quolls from Bruny Island have been generated. These can be used to understand population structure and dynamics and will inform future reintroduction efforts. Interestingly, a deletion at the ASIP locus was also identified that likely drives differences in coat color between the eastern quoll and the closely related Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). As such, these resources present additional new tools for evolutionary studies as well as for conservation.
Analyses of population-level resequencing data are currently ongoing, with the aim of producing a publication on eastern quoll genetic diversity and mutation load and an efficient SNP panel for future population-level sequencing. Notably, the work conducted in this project has supported the recent acquisition of a significant Linkage Grant through the Australian Research Council. This successor project will utilize the genome assembly produced to conduct genetic surveys on the effectiveness of captive releases on wild eastern quoll populations.
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