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

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Peer reviewed

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

PMCID: PMC12400805

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.

Details

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
PMID: 39364696; PMC12400805
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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