Draft genome of the river water buffalo

Water buffalo (<i>Bubalus bubalis</i>), a large-sized member of the Bovidae family, is considered as an important livestock species throughout Southeast Asia. In order to better understand the molecular basis of buffalo improvement and breeding, we sequenced and assembled the genome (2n=50) of a river buffalo species <i>Bubalus bubalis</i> from Bangladesh. Its genome size is 2.77 Gb, with a contig N50 of 25 kb and the scaffold N50 of 6.9 Mbp. Based on the assembled genome, we annotated 24,613 genes for future functional genomics studies. Phylogenetic tree analysis of cattle and water buffalo lineages showed that they diverged about 5.8-9.8 million years ago. Our findings provide an insight into the water buffalo genome which will contribute in further research on buffalo such as molecular breeding, understanding complex traits, conservation, and biodiversity.