Population Genomics of Ungulates

Abstract

Humans have long relied on ungulates for food, clothing, manual labor, and transportation. Ungulates were among the first species to be domesticated and managed in the wild, but more than one-third of species are currently of conservation concern. Starting in the late twentieth century, ungulate research and management began employing genetic tools to assess attributes like the degree of population structure, inbreeding, and variation in functionally important genes. As sequencing technology advanced, research on ungulates shifted to now assay variation across the entire genome. More than 20 ungulates have had their genome assembled with a mean length of 2.6 Gb and N50 of 26 Mb. Genomic studies have provided deeper insights into the evolutionary relationships among giraffes and bovids, while camelids and horses have had their entire species demographic histories reconstructed using novel Markovian coalescent models. Moreover, artificial and natural selection has left clear signatures on ungulate genomes with high-throughput sequencing techniques being used to identify the genetic basis to important phenotypic traits. Novel assembly strategies and genomic assays are regularly being employed on ungulates, and research on this ecological and economically valuable group will help chart the course of the emerging field of wildlife genomics.