Chromosome-level genome assembly of Norwegian wild alpine reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus).

Tørresen OK, Tooming-Klunderud A, Skage M, Streitlien AE, Strand O, Rolandsen CM, Ferrari G, Cerca J, Mysterud A, Jakobsen KS

J. Hered. 117 (3) 557-565 [2026-05-06; online 2025-11-03]

We describe a chromosome-level genome assembly from a wild alpine reindeer individual (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) from the Rondane area in Southern Norway. The assembly is resolved into two pseudo-haplotypes: hap 1 spanning 3,081 Mb and hap 2 spanning 2,633 Mb. Contig N50 and scaffold N50 lengths are in the range of 31 to 41 and 66 to 69 Mb, respectively. A large part of these two haplotypes (83.8% and 90.4%, respectively) are scaffolded into 34 autosomal chromosomal pseudomolecules, and in sex chromosomes X and Y for hap 1. The BUSCO completeness scores are 98.0% and 95.2%, respectively, and gene annotations of the assemblies identified 37,998 and 36,977 protein-coding genes. We also present an updated and improved genome assembly for Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus; contig N50 46 to 48 Mb, scaffold N50 67 to 71 Mb, BUSCO 95.4% to 98.0%) and a comparison with previously published genome assemblies of reindeer.

PubMed 41182255

DOI 10.1093/jhered/esaf094

Crossref 10.1093/jhered/esaf094

pmc: PMC13147171
pii: 8313328