Revealing hidden microbes and scaling reference genomes: advances in biodiversity genomics

Three presentations examine how long-read sequencing can improve biodiversity resources and their use in conservation and environmental decisions. Evgeny Glazov introduces amplification-free nanopore sequencing, direct detection of base modifications and flexible read lengths for natural-resource research.

Kara Dicks discusses scaling bird and fish reference assemblies through the Tree of Life programme. The presentation addresses completeness of genes, repeats and regulatory regions, difficult avian microchromosomes and GC-rich sequences, and the balance between standardized production and adaptation to diverse species.

Steven Robbins examines marine microbes missed by short-read assembly because of GC bias and strain diversity. Work underlying the Great Barrier Reef Microbial Genomes Database uses long-read and hybrid assemblies to recover overlooked lineages including Pelagibacter, Prochlorococcus and SAR86. The reported improvements include twice the genome recovery, three times as many high-quality assemblies and approximately tenfold greater contiguity. Long reads also expose chromosome-scale algal genomes and previously missed structural variation. Together, these approaches support biodiversity monitoring, ecosystem assessment and policy.