Genome assembly and insights into globally invasive Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)

The Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) of the Pycnonotidae family is one of the most invasive tropical passerine bird species. We accomplished the genome and transcriptome sequencing of P. cafer to explore the genomic basis of invasiveness and assembled the genome size of 1.03 Gb and 15,533 protein-coding genes with an N50 of 3.04 Mb and 97.2% BUSCO completeness. Our study constructed the mitogenome and 18S rRNA marker gene of P. cafer for the first time. Further, we investigated the demographic history and identified recent genetic bottlenecks the species experienced. We established the phylogenetic position of P. cafer and examined the gene family evolution along with orthologous gene clustering to provide clues on the invasive characteristics of P. cafer. Our study thus serves as a significant resource for future studies in invasion genomics and the possible management of this bird species in alien ranges.