The genome of the Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), an agamid model for urban adaptation

Daniel Powell; Nicola Jackson; Parwinder Kaur; Olga Dudchenko; Erez Lieberman Aiden; Arthur Georges; Céline H Frère

doi:10.1093/jhered/esae054

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The genome of the Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), an agamid model for urban adaptation

Journal article

Open access

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The genome of the Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), an agamid model for urban adaptation

Daniel Powell, Nicola Jackson, Parwinder Kaur, Olga Dudchenko, Erez Lieberman Aiden, Arthur Georges and Céline H Frère

Journal of Heredity, Vol.116(5), pp.571-581

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esae054

PMID: 39364696

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Abstract

comparative analysis

chromosome-length

Intellagama

water dragon

reptile genome

Squamate reptiles are a highly diverse and intriguing group of tetrapods, offering valuable insights into the evolution of amniotes. The Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii) is a member of the Agamidae, and sister to the core mesic Australian endemic radiation (Amphibolurinae). The species is renowned for its urban adaptability and complex social systems. We report a 1.8 Gb chromosome-length genome assembly together with the annotation of 23,675 protein-coding genes. Comparative analysis with other squamate genomes highlights gene family expansions associated with immune function, energetic homeostasis, and wound healing. This reference genome will serve as a valuable resource for studies of evolution and environmental resilience in lizards.

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Title: The genome of the Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), an agamid model for urban adaptation
Authors: Daniel Powell (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Bioinnovation
Nicola Jackson (Author) - The University of Queensland
Parwinder Kaur - The University of Western Australia
Olga Dudchenko - Baylor College of Medicine
Erez Lieberman Aiden - Baylor College of Medicine
Arthur Georges - University of Canberra
Céline H Frère - The University of Queensland
Publication details: Journal of Heredity, Vol.116(5), pp.571-581
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esae054
ISSN: 1465-7333; 0022-1503
PMID: 39364696
Copyright note: © The American Genetic Association. 2024. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Grants: Animal social behaviour and emerging infectious fungal diseases in nature, FT200100192, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Organisation Unit: Office of Research; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991068898102621
Output Type: Journal article

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