Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Novel Sequence Discovery by Subtractive Genomics
Published on: January 25, 2019
Low coverage sequencing of two Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) genomes
Akbar Dastjerdi1, Christelle Robert2, Mick Watson3
1Virology Department, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge, KT15 3NB Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
Background:
There are three species of elephant that exist, the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and two species of African elephant (Loxodonta africana and Loxodonta cyclotis). The populations of all three species are dwindling, and are under threat due to factors, such as habitat destruction and ivory hunting. The species differ in many respects, including in their morphology and response to disease. The availability of elephant genome sequence data from all three elephant species will complement studies of behaviour, genetic diversity, evolution and disease resistance.
Findings:
We present low-coverage Illumina sequence data from two Asian elephants, representing approximately 5X and 2.5X coverage respectively. Both raw and aligned data are available, using the African elephant (L. africana) genome as a reference.
Conclusions:
The data presented here are an important addition to the available genetic and genomic information on Asian and African elephants.
Related Concept Videos
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Multi-species Conserved Sequences
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved...
Next-generation Sequencing
Next-Generation Sequencing Methods
Although all next-generation methods use different technologies, they all share a set of standard features....
Convergent Evolution
Genomic DNA in Eukaryotes

