Tortoise genomics | Yann X.C. Bourgeois

I am currently collaborating with Pr. Eva Graciá, Dr. María Victoria Jiménez Franco, and Ms Andrea Mira Jover at Miguel Hernández University in Elche (Spain). We used reference-guided assembly to produce a high-quality, contiguous reference genome for the vulnerable Greek Tortoise (Testudo graeca, NCBI BioProject PRJNA1086345). We are now working on a collection of RAD-sequencing and whole-genome resequencing data to clarify the past history and conservation status of this species.

These tortoises were found near Constanta in Romania, and belongs to the subspecies Testudo graeca ibera. In the medium term I wish to expand genomic and conservation studies to Eastern Europe and the Near-East. The figure on the right summarizes a possible demographic trajectory inferred from the reference genome (time goes backwards from left to right).