EquCab3 Viewed through the Lens of Comparative Genomics for Non-Caballene Species

Comparative genomics is a powerful approach that helps us to gain an understanding of what genomic change evolution has allowed to occur between species, what genomic sequence has been conserved, and what variation has been tolerated in those conserved regions. Work on a new reference genome for the horse, EquCab3, is nearing completion. Here we present data on the fraction of reads that map for three horses, and three non-caballene Equids: a kiang, a grevyi zebra, and a Somali ass. These mappings demonstrate that not only have we improved the mapping fractions of reads for the horses, but for the other equids as well, thereby improving the amount of information that may be gained in a comparative genomics study. This should be a benefit not only for closely related equids, but for projects such as FAANG that will be including horses in their comparative genomic analyses.