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The Ruminant Telomere-to-Telomere (RT2T) Consortium

Abstract

Telomere-to-telomere (T2T) assemblies reveal new insights into the structure and function of the previously ‘invisible’ parts of the genome and allow comparative analyses of complete genomes across entire clades. We present here an open collaborative effort, termed the ‘Ruminant T2T Consortium’ (RT2T), that aims to generate complete diploid assemblies for numerous species of the Artiodactyla suborder Ruminantia to examine chromosomal evolution in the context of natural selection and domestication of species used as livestock.

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Fig. 1: Phylogenetic relationships of target lineages for the RT2T.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (grant 2023-67015-39000). Any mention of trade names or commercial products is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture. The USDA is an equal-opportunity provider and employer.

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Contributions

All correspondence should be addressed to B.D.R., R.J.O’N. or T.P.L.S. T.S.K., S.D.M., B.M.M., D.L.A., D.A., G.B., L.M.B., M.J.B.-G., F.B., T.C., E. Chuong, E. Clark, S.C., N.C., C.C., B.W.D., C.G.E., T.F., Y.G., C.G., P.G., J.G., R.G., D.G., D.H., G.A.H., M.H., S.J.H., W.H., E.J., J. Kalleberg, H.K., K.-P.K., J. Koltes, S.K., C.K., T.L., A.L., G.E.L., W.Y.L., H.M., K. McRae, K. Miga, M.M., H.N., T.O., M. Pennell, B.P., M. Pewsner, A.M.P., B.D.P., P.P., T.P., S.R., A. Rhie, M.R., A. Robic, N.R.O., Y.S., G.S., R.D.S., N.S.N., M.S., J.S., P.S., C.S., G.T.-K., G.M.T., C.K.T., C.P.V.T., C.W., R.W., K.W., S.X., L.Y., T.P.L.S., R.J.O’N. and B.D.R. contributed to the vision and framing of the RT2T Consortium and the Perspective.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Timothy P. L. Smith, Rachel J. O’Neill or Benjamin D. Rosen.

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Competing interests

T.S.K., S.D.M., B.M.M., D.L.A., D.A., G.B., L.M.B., M.J.B.-G., F.B., T.C., E. Chuong, E. Clark, S.C., N.C., C.C., B.W.D., C.G.E., T.F., Y.G., C.G., J.G., R.G., D.G., D.H., G.A.H., M.H., S.J.H., W.H., E.J., J. Kalleberg, H.K., K.-P.K., J. Koltes, C.K., T.L., A.L., G.E.L., W.Y.L., H.M., K. McRae, K. Miga, M.M., H.N., T.O., M. Pennell, B.P., M. Pewsner, A.M.P., B.D.P., P.P., T.P., S.R., A. Rhie, M.R., A. Robic, N.R.O., Y.S., G.S., R.D.S., N.S.N., M.S., J.S., P.S., C.S., G.T.-K., G.M.T., C.K.T., C.P.V.T., R.W., K.W., S.X., L.Y., T.P.L.S., and B.D.R. have no competing interests to declare. P.G. is an employee of Colossal Biosciences and Form Bio and has received travel funds to speak at events hosted by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. S.K. and R.J.O’N. have received travel funds to speak at events hosted by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. R.J.O’N. serves on the scientific advisory board of Colossal Biosciences. C.W. is a cofounder and the chief scientific officer of Clareo Biosciences.

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Nature Genetics thanks Ruidong Xiang, Lingzhao Fang, Tuan V. Nguyen, and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Kalbfleisch, T.S., McKay, S.D., Murdoch, B.M. et al. The Ruminant Telomere-to-Telomere (RT2T) Consortium. Nat Genet 56, 1566–1573 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-01835-2

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