ERGA Pilot Project Unites Scientists to Deliver High-Quality Genomes

The European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) has announced the outcome of its pilot project in a new article. To date, this innovative project has brought together a sizable cooperative network of researchers and organizations from 33 different nations to generate excellent reference genomes for 98 European species.

The pilot project has positioned ERGA as a paradigm for decentralized, inclusive, and equitable biodiversity genomics programs worldwide by highlighting important problems and offering insightful insights.

The first chromosome-level genome assembly of species from Greece, one of the most biodiverse nations in Europe, is among the project's many milestones. Scientists from Greece collected samples of species like Aristotle's catfish (Silurus aristotelis) and the Cretan wall lizard (Podarcis cretensis) to create genomes that are now freely accessible to researchers worldwide.

These are just two instances of what may be accomplished by bringing together a global community of scientists studying biodiversity and encouraging cooperation both among and within nations.

The ERGA pilot project placed a strong emphasis on fairness and inclusion, aiming to make genomic resources and research available to everyone, regardless of location. The initiative provided a first-hand chance for several experts and participating nations to directly participate in the creation of cutting-edge reference genetic resources for their biodiversity.

Building momentum and increasing awareness of the expanding significance of biodiversity genomics in Europe and beyond was another accomplishment of the ERGA pilot project. Genomic data have enormous potential to guide efforts to conserve endangered species and to uncover new information in a variety of areas, including human health, the bioeconomy, biosecurity, and many more.

One species sequenced by the research is the greater argentine (Argentina silus), a fish species from the northern Atlantic that is significant to the commercial sector. With the use of this new reference genome, scientists will be able to evaluate the genetic health of species populations with greater accuracy, which will ultimately help them make management choices that will guarantee sustainable and ethical fishing methods.

The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) is one of the species for which a high-quality reference genome is now also available for the first time. In the future, for instance, it will be feasible to examine genetic illnesses for which the only symptoms are currently understood, thanks to this reference genome.

According to Dr. Oliver Krone, a specialist in birds of prey from the Leibniz-IZW, this is especially true for the “pinching-off syndrome.” The disease causes malformations in the flight and control feathers of young white-tailed eagles, making flying difficult. The genetic reasons for this feather deformity are recessively passed down from both parent birds to the progeny.

Krone continued, that there are also a lot of opportunities to use the eagle genome for phylogenetic questions. For instance, isolated populations may be located or subpopulations could be distinguished from one another.

The creation of a collaborative network spanning Europe under the auspices of ERGA expedites scientific advancement and makes it easier for scientific findings to be translated into concrete advantages for biodiversity and society, even as the world's scientific community works to fully realize the potential of genetic data.

The network also facilitates the exchange of opportunities for financing, collaborations, and training among scientists at different career phases. Early in 2021, the Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research (BeGenDiv) and the Leibniz-IZW's Dr. Camila Mazzoni, who was the ERGA chair at the time, organized calls with hundreds of genome scientists to establish and organize the cooperative project in a decentralized and inclusive manner.

The European region of the larger Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is home to ERGA. To accomplish its lofty objective of sequencing every eukaryotic organism on Earth, the EBP critically requires global involvement and novel, decentralized genome production techniques.

The ERGA pilot project successfully showed that, even at a continental scale and without a central source of finance available, a fully distributed, collaborative, and coordinated genome production paradigm is not only conceivable but effective.

The majority of the project's funding comes from the grassroots efforts of individual participants and affiliated institutions, with grants, discounts, and in-kind contributions also coming from sequencing partners and commercial sequencing firms.

The ERGA pilot project assisted in recognizing and resolving the numerous difficulties associated with operating on an international basis. Managing resource differences between nations, shipping biological samples across borders legally and logistically, and striking a balance between standardization and decentralization to ensure that the project produced only the best reference genome assemblies that satisfy EBP metrics are some of these challenges.

The decentralized methodology of ERGA has enormous potential for biodiversity genomics in the future. The efficacy of this methodology is demonstrated by the pilot project's ability to generate momentum and bring researchers together.

By promoting global cooperation and emphasizing equity and inclusivity, ERGA is revolutionizing biodiversity genomics. Future efforts will be guided by the lessons learned from the pilot project, which will also address the obstacles mentioned. This will result in strong and standardized workflows and a comprehensive genomic database for species found in Europe and beyond.