The 15 species of small carnivorous marsupials that comprise the genus Antechinus exhibit semelparity, a rare life-history strategy in mammals where synchronized death occurs after one breeding season. Antechinus males, but not females, age rapidly (demonstrate organismal senescence) during the breeding season and show promise as new animal models of ageing. Some antechinus species are also threatened or endangered. Here, we report a chromosome-level genome of a male yellow-footed antechinus Antechinus flavipes. The genome assembly has a total length of 3.2 Gb with a contig N50 of 51.8 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 636.7 Mb. We anchored and oriented 99.7% of the assembly on seven pseudochromosomes and found that repetitive DNA sequences occupy 51.8% of the genome. Draft genome assemblies of three related species in the subfamily Phascogalinae, two additional antechinus species (Antechinus argentus and A. arktos) and the iteroparous sister species Murexia melanurus, were also generated. Preliminary demographic analysis supports the hypothesis that climate change during the Pleistocene isolated species in Phascogalinae and shaped their population size. A transcriptomic profile across the A. flavipes breeding season allowed us to identify genes associated with aspects of the male die-off. The chromosome-level A. flavipes genome provides a steppingstone to understanding an enigmatic life-history strategy and a resource to assist the conservation of antechinuses.

中文翻译：

---

Antechinus flavipes的染色体水平基因组为澳大利亚有袋类动物交配后雄性死亡提供参考


Antechinus属的 15 种小型肉食性有袋动物表现出半胎生现象，这是哺乳动物中一种罕见的生活史策略，在一个繁殖季节后会发生同步死亡。雄性安泰奇努斯（Antechinus）在繁殖季节迅速衰老（表现出机体衰老），而雌性则不然，并有望成为新的衰老动物模型。一些安特奇努斯物种也受到威胁或濒临灭绝。在这里，我们报告了雄性黄足Antechinus flavipes的染色体水平基因组。基因组组装的总长度为 3.2 Gb，重叠群 N50 为 51.8 Mb，支架 N50 为 636.7 Mb。我们将 99.7% 的组装锚定并定向在七个假染色体上，发现重复的 DNA 序列占据了基因组的 51.8%。还生成了 Phascogalinae 亚科中三个相关物种、另外两个 antechinus 物种（ Antechinus argentus和A. arktos ）以及迭代繁殖的姊妹物种Murexia melanurus的基因组组装草图。初步的人口统计分析支持了这样的假设：更新世期间的气候变化隔离了水雉亚科的物种，并影响了它们的种群规模。 A 的转录组图谱。 flavipes繁殖季节使我们能够识别与雄性死亡相关的基因。染色体水平A 。 flavipes基因组为理解神秘的生活史策略提供了踏脚石，并为协助保护 antechinuses 提供了资源。