Spiny mice genome project leaded by EMBL-EBI and Wellcome Sanger Institute. Spiny mice genomes

The spiny mice are species of Acomys genus, native to northern Africa. They have appearance similar house mice (genus Mus), genetically closely related to gerbils. Golden spiny mouse (Acomys russatus), found in Egypt and the Middle East desert regions, obtain water from food. It has a high urine concentration, can process sea water without impairing kindly function. Model for kidney diseases.Cairo spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus), found north of the Sahara desert, natural habitats are rocky areas and hot deserts. Displays rapid musculoskeletal and skin regeneration, and restoration of liver function. Potential animal model for the human menstrual cycle.Kemp's spiny mouse (Acomys kempi), found in Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania in dry savanna and rocky areas. Similar to other Acomys species it can shed its skin, and completely regenerating damaged hair follicles, skin, sweat glands, fur and cartilage.The assembly is provided by the European Bioinformatics Institute and Wellcome Sanger Institute (https://www.sanger.ac.uk/science/data/vertebrate-genomes-sequencing) in association with the Vertebrate Genomes Project (http://vertebrategenomesproject.org); the principal investigators are David Thybert ([e-mail]) and Thomas Keane (EMBL-EBI, [e-mail]). The data under this project are made available subject to the Wellcome Sanger Institute data use policies (https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/who-we-are/research-policies/open-access-science).

刺鼠（spiny mice）为刺鼠属（Acomys）的物种，原生分布于非洲北部。它们的外形与小家鼠属（Mus）的物种相似，遗传学上与沙鼠亲缘关系紧密。
金背刺鼠（Golden spiny mouse, Acomys russatus）分布于埃及及中东沙漠区域，可通过食物获取水分，其尿液浓缩能力极强，能够处理海水且不会损伤肾脏功能，是肾脏疾病研究的模式动物。
开罗刺鼠（Cairo spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus）分布于撒哈拉沙漠以北区域，其自然栖息地为岩地与热沙漠环境。该物种具备快速的肌肉骨骼与皮肤再生能力，同时可实现肝功能修复，是人类月经周期研究的潜在动物模型。
肯普刺鼠（Kemp's spiny mouse, Acomys kempi）分布于肯尼亚、索马里与坦桑尼亚的干燥稀树草原及岩地环境中。与其他刺鼠属物种类似，其可发生皮肤脱落，并能完全再生受损的毛囊、皮肤、汗腺、被毛与软骨组织。
本刺鼠属物种基因组组装数据集由欧洲生物信息研究所（European Bioinformatics Institute）与威康桑格研究所（Wellcome Sanger Institute，https://www.sanger.ac.uk/science/data/vertebrate-genomes-sequencing）联合脊椎动物基因组计划（Vertebrate Genomes Project，http://vertebrategenomesproject.org）共同提供。本项目的主要研究者为David Thybert（欧洲分子生物学实验室-欧洲生物信息研究所，[e-mail]）与Thomas Keane（欧洲分子生物学实验室-欧洲生物信息研究所，[e-mail]）。本项目下的数据遵循威康桑格研究所数据使用政策（https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/who-we-are/research-policies/open-access-science）进行开放共享。