The right whale to save

Today, we release the genome of one of the most endangered whale species, the North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis.

The North Atlantic right whale is a large baleen whale historically found near the coast of the western and eastern North Atlantic [1]. They can reach roughly 52 feet (16 m) long and 70 tons (60,000 kg), and may still be seen from the Labrador Sea to the coast of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida [2]. They are readily distinguished from other cetaceans by the absence of a dorsal fin on their broad back.

Their name is derived from being the "right" whale for whalers to easily harvest. Hundreds of years of whaling along with continued human interaction has reduced the population to less than 400 whales, making the North Atlantic right whale one of the world’s most endangered large whale species. It is one of four marine mammals in NOAA's Species in the Spotlight, with more information here and here. We hope that this genome can help ongoing research efforts and highlight the plight of this species.

This is the second baleen whale (Mysticeti) genome in the DNA Zoo collection after the Bryde’s whale Balaenoptera edeni. See below the whole-genome alignment plots to see how karyotypes of the two species (2n=44 for the Bryde’s whale and 2n=42 for the NA right whale) relate to each other. Both genome were generated following the $1K strategy described in (Dudchenko et al., 2018).

Whole-genome alignment plots between the genome assemblies of the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena_glacialis_HiC) and the Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera_edeni_HiC). The genomes are highly syntenic with chromosome #20 in the right whale corresponding to two separate chromosomes in the Bryde’s whale (#18 and #16).

This work was performed under Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) Permit No. 18786-03 issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA). The specimen used in this study was collected by NOAA (T. Rowles and B. Bonde) from Amelia Island, Florida, USA. The specimen was provided by the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank, which is maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the NIST Biorepository, which is operated under the direction of NMFS with the collaboration of USGS, USFWS, MMS, and NIST through the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program.

Fintastic beasts and where to find them

We celebrate the World Marine Mammal Conference held in Barcelona this week by releasing three new chromosome-length marine mammal genome assemblies: for the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), here; the long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas), here; and the melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra), here.

The long-finned pilot whale assembly is an upgrade based on the draft generated by the Canada’s Genomic Enterprise. The harbor porpoise and the melon-headed whale are the $1K-model DNA Zoo genomes, see (Dudchenko et al., 2018) for details. The samples used for this work were received from the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the NIST Biorepository.

The harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is one of six species of porpoise, commonly observed inhabiting coastal areas of Asia, North America, Europe and Africa (the individual assembled by the DNA Zoo came from Homer, Alaska). The name ‘porpoise’ derives from the Latin word ‘porcus’, which means hog and ‘piscis’ meaning fish, literally meaning sea pig. (Interesting since pigs and cetaceans are both even-toed ungulates. The latin name, Phocoena phocoena, on the other hand, means ‘big seal’, which is a pinniped in the distantly related carnivora order...) The harbor porpoise is roughly the size of a human, with a dark gray back, intermediate shades of gray along their sides, white belly and a white throat with a gray chin patch. The most apparent difference between a harbor porpoise and dolphin is that the harbor porpoise has no beak, a smaller, less curved dorsal fin, and small pointed flippers.

Image by skeeze from Pixabay [Pixabay License], via pixabay.com

The long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas), named for its unusually long pectoral fins, is a toothed whale approximately 20 feet long that mainly eats soft squid. They are social creatures that have at times formed groups of up to a thousand animals. They prefer the deep temperate to subpolar oceanic waters of the North Atlantic and southern Pacific (the individual assembled by the DNA Zoo came from the North Atlantic).

Pilot whale spyhop, photo by Barney Moss [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra) is also a toothed whale, but is small to medium sized at about 10 feet long. These whales prefer deep tropical/subtropical waters across the globe (the individual assembled by the DNA Zoo came from Hawaii). Similar to pilot whales, these whales can form groups of up to 1000 individuals. Studies have shown that they maintain a matrilineal structure such that females remain in groups with their mothers, whereas males move between groups (similar to some killer, sperm and pilot whales).

NOAA/Andrea Bendlin MMPA#15240

Like all marine mammals, the melon-headed whale, the long-finned pilot whale and the harbor porpoise are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

This work was performed under Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHSRP) Permit No. 18786-03 issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and Endangered Species Act (ESA). The specimens used in this study was collected by: Carol A. Stephens (harbor porpoise; Homer, Alaska), the New England Aquarium (Belinda Rubenstein; long-finned pilot whale; Brewster, Breakwater Beach, Massachusetts) and the Hawaii Pacific University (Kristi West; long-finned pilot whale; Kahului, Hawaii). Specimens were provided by the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank, which is maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the NIST Biorepository, which is operated under the direction of NMFS with the collaboration of USGS, USFWS, MMS, and NIST through the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program and the Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue Archival Project.

Along with the research highlighted this week at the World Marine Mammal Conference, we hope that the continued generation of high-quality genome assemblies will help advance the marine mammal science and conservation efforts. If you have specimens that you can share make sure to reach out, and stay tuned for more marine mammal genome assemblies coming out in the next few weeks on the DNA Zoo website!

Top bat

The Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) is one of the most widely distributed and recognizable species of bats in North America. As their name suggests, they are a small (5-14g), brown-colored bat. They are frequently found roosting in old buildings, taking breaks in trees, and hibernating in caves and mines [1-2].

There are two main reasons why researchers are interested in having good genomic resources for the Little Brown Bat. First, accounting for body size, the Little Brown Bat lives longest of any mammal. Second, a fungus-caused disease known as the White Nose Syndrome is killing off the little brown bat by the millions. We hope that upgrading the current draft genome assembly, created in 2010 by the Broad Institute, to chromosome-length will help address these questions. The upgraded genome assembly is available here. The upgrade is done in collaboration with Vincent J Lynch (University of Buffalo), Juan Manuel Vazquez (University of Chicago) as well as Richard Miller, Bill Kohler and Melissa Han (University of Michigan).

White Nose Susceptibility and Viral Resistance

A major issue affecting bats today is the emergence and rampage of White Nose Syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans. Originating from Europe, P. destructans has decimated Eastern and Midwestern bat populations as it has moved westward throughout North America [5]. Little Brown Bat has been severely affected. Interestingly, it appears that some populations of M. lucifugus have shown signs of resistance to WNS relative to other populations [6]. Access to better genomics resources for M. lucifugus can help determine how differences between populations contribute to their resistance or susceptibility to the WNS.

Peto’s Paradox and Longevity in the Little Brown Bat

Generally speaking, life span in mammals is linked with size: bigger animals live longer. According to this general rule, the little brown bat life expectancy is up to 19 years. Yet, the oldest little brown bat on record was 34 years old, almost twice the prediction! Hopefully, understanding how the Little Brown Bat manages to beat the curve will have benefits for human health.

Cancer resistance is of particular importance for longevity research. While nearly all multicellular species are susceptible to cancer, some species should be more susceptible than others. Within a species, for example, cancer risk is positively correlated with increases in body size and lifespan. Between different species, however, there are no correlations between a species’s body size or lifespan, and cancer risk. This observation, known as Peto’s Paradox, can only be explained if species evolve enhanced tumor suppression mechanisms alongside increases in size and lifespan. Many open questions remain in this puzzle, including whether the evolution of enhanced tumor suppression precedes, follows, or evolves in tandem with these two factors; and which molecular and genetic mechanisms do bats and other long-lived species use to suppress their overall cancer risk.

Myotis Lucifugus and Bat Genomics

This is the fourth bat genome assembly at the DNA Zoo, and the first chromosome-length assembly in the microbat suborder (Microchiroptera). Below, we include a few whole-genome alignment plots to help elucidate how the little brown bat genome relates to those previously shared. It is worth noting that even with the recent push in bat genomics over 99% of all bat species remain unsequenced, and there are likely many more unknown bat species which are yet to be discovered [3-4]. We would like to thank Richard Miller, Bill Kohler and Melissa Han, who provided these cell lines to us for sequencing and molecular studies. Working with the DNA Zoo and other collaborators we hope to break the status quo, so stay tuned!

Whole-genome alignment of the chromosome-length genome assembly upgrade for the little brown bat (Myoluc2.0_HiC) and other bats shared by the DNA Zoo: the Madagascan flying fox (Pteropus_rufus_HiC), the large flying fox (Pvam_2.0_HiC, upgrade from Lindblad-Toh et al., 2011) and the straw-colored fruit bat (ASM46528v1_HiC, upgrade from Parker et al., 2013).

References:

1- Fenton, M., R. Barclay. 1980. Myotis lucifugus. Mammalian Species, 142: 1-8.

2- Barbour, R., W. Davis. 1969. Bats of America. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky.

3- Simmons, N.B. and A.L. Cirranello. 2019. Bat Species of the World: A taxonomic and geographic database. Accessed on 12/02/2019

4- Agnarsson, Ingi, Carlos M Zambrana-Torrelio, Nadia Paola Flores-Saldana, and Laura J May-Collado. n.d. “A time-calibrated species-level phylogeny of bats (Chiroptera, Mammalia).” PLoS Currents 3: RRN1212. https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.rrn1212.

5- Zukal J, Bandouchova H, Bartonicka T, et al. White-nose syndrome fungus: a generalist pathogen of hibernating bats. PLoS One. 2014;9(5):e97224. Published 2014 May 12. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097224

6- Langwig Kate E., Hoyt Joseph R., Parise Katy L., Frick Winifred F., Foster Jeffrey T. and Kilpatrick A. Marm. “Resistance in persisting bat populations after white-nose syndrome invasion.” 372. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0044