Resequencing of Tasmanian devil genomes

The Tasmanian devil is currently threatened with extinction in the wild due to the transmissible cancer devil facial tumour disease. An insurance population has been established to ensure the survival of the species. We have resequenced whole genomes of seven Tasmanian devils from a wild population who displayed lower disease prevalence and some devils spontaneously recovering from the disease. We are using the genomic information to discover any genomic regions which may be associated with disease resistance in this population. We are also utilising the data as an ascertainment panel for marker discovery for development of genotyping assays for the Tasmanian devil insurance population.