Population cytogenetics in the Ridge-tailed goannas

The aim of this project was to characterise chromosome polymorphisms within and between populations of Ridge-tailed goannas (Varanus acanthurus complex). We used Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) for genome wide SNP analysis and integrated this data with cytogenetic observation. The SNP analysis revealed fixed allele differences between individuals with different karyotypes. These data were then aligned to a reference genome (BioProjectID PRJNA737594) and determined to be in linkage disequilibrium and found on a single scaffold. We then designed a FISH probe from the scaffold of interest and validated the fixed allele differences were correlated with the rearrangement on chromosome 6.