Supporting data for "Draft genome of the Gayal, Bos frontalis"

Gayal (Bos frontalis), also known as mithan or mithun, is a large and endangered semi-domesticated bovine that has a limited geographical distribution in hill-forests of China, Northeast India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Bhutan. The chromosome number of Gayal (2n=58) differs from gaur (Bos gaurus, 2n=56) and domesticated cattle (Bos indicus and Bos taurus, 2n=60). Many questions in Gayal such as origin, population history as well as genetic basis regarding local adaptation remain largely unresolved. De novo sequencing and assembly of whole Gayal genome provides an opportunity to address these issues.

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We report a high-depth sequencing, de novo assembly, and annotation of a female Gayal genome. Based on Illumina genomic sequencing platform, we have generated 350.38Gb raw data from 16 different insert size libraries. A total of 276.86Gb clean data is retained after quality control. The assembled genome is about 2.85Gb with scaffold and contig N50 sizes of 2.74Mb and 14.41kb, respectively. Repetitive elements account for 48.13% of the genome. Gene annotation has yielded 26,667 protein-coding genes, of which 97.18% have been functionally annotated. BUSCO assessment shows that our assembly captures 93% (3,183 of 4,104) of the core eukaryotic genes, and 83.1% of vertebrate universal single-copy orthologs.

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We provide a comprehensive de novo genome of the Gayal. This genetic resource is integral for inferring the origin of Gayal and performing comparative genomic studies to improve understanding of the speciation and divergence of Bovine species.