Wood stork (Mycteria americana) genome sequencing and assembly

The wood stork (Mycteria americana) is a stork species of conservation concern native to the Americas. The blood sample was collected from a female chick born in the wild colony (rookery) at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, Jacksonville, FL, USA in May 2021. Genome sequencing and annotation were performed by Cantata Bio (Scotts Valley, CA, USA). Chromosome orthology analyses were performed by Richard Flamio Jr. and Kristina M. Ramstad at University of South Carolina Aiken (Aiken, SC, USA) to determine the identity of chromosomes, including microchromosomes, and to understand chromosome evolution in storks. Previous karyotyping work by Francisco and Galetti Jr. (2000) determined wood stork genome content as 2n = 72 (n = 36). Overall, a high quality chromosome-level reference assembly was produced with 32 out of 36 wood stork chromosomes identified in the assembly. The remaining four microchromosomes are most likely present in the assembly as scaffolds.