Producing high quality reference genomes for plants, like this humble streptophyte alga, can provide important clues for understanding the evolution of plants on land as well as different methods of photosynthesis and so inform conservation measures Photo: Tatyana Darienko
Producing high quality reference genomes for plants, like this humble streptophyte alga, can provide important clues for understanding the evolution of plants on land as well as different methods of photosynthesis and so inform conservation measures Photo: Tatyana Darienko Göttingen University joins six hundred researchers from 48 countries calling for comprehensive genome analyses for species conservation in Europe To provide important genomic data to inform research about Europe's biodiversity, scientists from 48 different countries initiated the "European Reference Genome Atlas" (ERGA) in 2021. Along with over 600 researchers, scientists from the University of Göttingen contribute to ERGA to make up an essential transdisciplinary and transborder community of experts. Together, they want to produce extremely high-quality genome analyses, known as -reference genomes-. The aim is to establish genomic resources for around 200,000 species in Europe. ERGA highlights the importance of reference-quality genomes for conservation biology. However, such data is only available for a tiny proportion of species. The need to bridge this gap is emphasised in a perspective paper in Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
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