TY - JOUR T1 - Genome Assemblies of the Warthog and Kenyan Domestic Pig Provide Insights into Suidae Evolution and Candidate Genes for African Swine Fever Tolerance JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.12.17.473133 SP - 2021.12.17.473133 AU - Wen Feng AU - Lei Zhou AU - Pengju Zhao AU - Heng Du AU - Chenguang Diao AU - Yu Zhang AU - Zhen Liu AU - Wenjiao Jin AU - Jian Yu AU - Jianlin Han AU - Edward Okoth AU - Raphael Morode AU - Jian-Feng Liu Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/12/17/2021.12.17.473133.abstract N2 - As warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) has innate immunity against African swine fever (ASF), it is critical to understand the evolutionary novelty of warthog to explain its specific ASF resistance. Here, we present two completed new genomes of one warthog and one Kenyan domestic pig, as the fundamental genomic references to decode the genetic mechanism on ASF tolerance. Our results indicated, multiple genomic variations, including gene losses, independent contraction and expansion of specific gene families, likely moulded warthog’s genome to adapt the environment. Importantly, the analysis of the presence and absence of genomic sequences revealed that, the warthog genome had a DNA sequence absence of the lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB) gene on chromosome 2 compared to the reference genome. The overexpression and siRNA of LDHB indicated that its inhibition on the replication of ASFV. Combining with large-scale sequencing data of 123 pigs from all over the world, contraction and expansion of TRIM genes families revealed that TRIM family genes in the warthog genome were potentially responsible for its tolerance to ASF. Our results will help further improve the understanding of genetic resistance ASF in pigs.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -