Nesengani Lucky Tendani, Tshilate Thendo, Mdyogolo Sinebongo, Smith Rae, Masebe Tracy, Raphulu Thomas, Moila Acclaim, Sharaf Abdoallah, Muzemil Sadik, Houaga Isidore, Muigai Anne, Djikeng A, Kuja Josiah, Katee Sally, Osuji Julian O, Mungloo-Dilmohamud Zahra, Botes Marietjie, Mbizeni Skhumbuzo, Jarvis Erich, Ebenezer ThankGod Echezona, Ntanganedzeni Mapholi
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, UNISA Science Campus, Florida, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Limpopo Department of Agricultur, Polokwane, South Africa.
Sci Data. 2025 Jul 10;12(1):1193. doi: 10.1038/s41597-025-05514-7.
Nguni sheep (Ovis aries) are indigenous to the Southern Africa region and common within the smallholder and poor resources farming systems. They are well adapted to different agroecological regions. However, limited genomic resources such as high-quality reference genomes have hindered our understanding of its adaptation and establishment of an effective breeding program. To address this, we assembled a chromosomal-level genome of Nguni sheep using a combination of PacBio HiFi reads and Omni-C reads. The genome size was estimated to be 2.9 Gb with a contig/scaffold N50 74 Mb and 99.6 Mb and a genome completeness of 96.1%, as estimated by the Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) program. The final genome encompassed a total of 25,926 protein-coding genes. The findings of this study provide a valuable genomic resource for understanding the adaptability of the Nguni sheep and the establishment of effective breeding programs.
恩古尼羊（Ovis aries）原产于南部非洲地区，在小农和资源匮乏的养殖系统中很常见。它们能很好地适应不同的农业生态区域。然而，诸如高质量参考基因组等有限的基因组资源阻碍了我们对其适应性的理解以及有效育种计划的制定。为了解决这个问题，我们结合PacBio HiFi reads和Omni-C reads组装了恩古尼羊的染色体水平基因组。通过基准通用单拷贝直系同源基因（BUSCO）程序估计，基因组大小约为2.9 Gb，重叠群/支架N50分别为74 Mb和99.6 Mb，基因组完整性为96.1%。最终的基因组共包含25926个蛋白质编码基因。本研究结果为理解恩古尼羊的适应性和制定有效育种计划提供了宝贵的基因组资源。
