Constructing Genetic Variation Maps in the Bactrian Camel

Aims: The Bactrian camel includes various domestic (Camelus bactrianus) and wild breeds (Camelus ferus) that are important for transportation and for their nutritional value. A fully-assembled reference genome was published for Bactrian camel that dramatically stimulated the researchers to focus on molecular biology and genetic research. According to the archaeological research, the Bactrian camel has been domesticated for 4000-5000 years ago and some important biology traits has been changed in some aspects. Although, a lot of previous studies have tried to clarify the origin history of Bactrian camel, we still have no information on which gene category change altered the biology trait in the gene level. So constructing the Bactrian camel genetic variation map will help to understand these biology transformations. Moreover, the genetic variation map can also provide very valuable information to the study of gene function and is essential to protect and utilize the excellent germplasm and genetic resources of Bactrian camel, which will provide us important basis for Bactrian camel genetic improvement. Methods: we re-sequenced Bactrian camel in the whole genome wide, of which one wild Bactrian camel group, six domestic Bactrian camel breeds of China, three domestic Bactrian camel breeds of Mongolia, one Kalmyk Bactrian camel breed of Russia, one Iran Bactrian camel group and one Kazakhstan Bactrian camel group using High throughput sequencing platform；further, we constructed the Bactrian camel genetic variation map using Biological information analysis method. Results: Based on the re-sequencing of the domestic Bactrian camel population group and wild Bactrian camel group from the world, we obtained 4.24 Tb high quality data and the sequencing depth reached 1736×; the average sequencing depth of each Bactrian camel group was 14×, and the genome coverage was 96.19%. More than 90 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 10 million insertions and deletions were identified. Conclusion: A Genetic Variation Maps were constructed for the first time in the domestic and wild Bactrian camel population groups, which provided rich genetic markers for the genetic breeding of Bactrian camels.