A highly contiguous genome assembly for the Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)

Abstract

The Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) is a small songbird in the New World Warbler family (Parulidae) that exhibits phenotypic and ecological differences across a widespread distribution and is important to Californias riparian habitat conservation. Here, we present a high-quality de novo genome assembly of a vouchered female Yellow Warbler from southern California. Using HiFi long-read and Omni-C proximity sequencing technologies, we generated a 1.22 Gb assembly including 687 scaffolds with a contig N50 of 6.80 Mb, scaffold N50 of 21.18 Mb, and a BUSCO completeness score of 96.0%. This highly contiguous genome assembly provides an essential resource for understanding the history of gene flow, divergence, and local adaptation and can inform conservation management of this charismatic bird species.