De-novo genome assembly of four rails (Aves: Rallidae): a resource for comparative genomics

The rails are a phenotypically diverse family of birds that includes around 130 species and displays a wide distribution around the world. Here we present annotated genome assemblies for four rails from Aotearoa New Zealand: two native volant species, p[u]keko Porphyrio melanotus and mioweka Gallirallus philippensis, and two endemic flightless species takah[e] Porphyrio hochstetteri and weka Gallirallus australis. The quality checks and comparison with other rallid genomes showed that the new assemblies were of high quality and that the annotations could be trusted. Using the sequence read data, heterozygosity was found to be lowest in the endemic flightless species and this probably reflects their relatively small populations. This study significantly increases the number of available rallid genomes and will enable future genomic studies on the evolution of this family.