It is now official, the diamond-backed terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) reference genome is now available for everyone. The Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP) have outdone themselves and worked with us to sequence and assemble a full genome for our beloved terrapin. Using blood samples from our Alabama population (Malaclemys terrapin pileata), VGP found the funders and did all of the sequencing and bioinformatics to produce this invaluable resource for scientists interested in the conservation, ecology, and evolution of terrapins!
The folks at the VGP did all of the heavy lifting, Iwo Gross collected the samples, and Dr. Tonia Schwartz connected us with the VGP and kindly helped us figure out how the heck to preserve/store reptile blood so DNA could be extracted! We are just the turtle wranglers, everyone else did the work on this!
For more information and the data - go see the BioSample page!