A paper published in the journal NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics presents the Catalan Initiative for the Earth BioGenome Project (CBP), which is part of the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), an international network that aims to characterize the genomic biodiversity of species in different regions of the planet. Nearly 150 experts from various institutions and research centres throughout the Catalan-speaking territory are participating in this initiative. Most of the genomes are sequenced at the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), based at the Barcelona Science Park.

Sequencing the genomes of all plants, animals and fungi on Earth — around two million known species — to protect biodiversity as we know it: this is the aim of the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP). The Catalan Initiative for the Earth BioGenome Project (CBP) is also participating in this international project, which will sequence the genomes of the eukaryotic species — that is, those with cells that have a defined nucleus — that are in the Catalan-speaking territories (Andorra, Northern Catalonia, Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community and Principality of Catalonia).

Now, an article in the journal NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics has published on the CBP project. The main authors of the text are Prof. Montserrat Corominas, from the UB’s Faculty of Biology, the UB Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB) and the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC), and Prof. Roderic Guigó, from the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and IEC.

Many researchers from CNAG in the Barcelona Science Park have also participated in this publication, such as the director of the center, Ivo Gut; the head of the Sequencing Unit, Marta Gut; the leader of the Comparative Genomics group, Tomàs Marquès-Bonet; the leader of the Genome Assembly and Annotation team, Tyler Alioto; and the strategic coordinator of CNAG, Mònica Bayés.

The paper highlights thighlights the rich biodiversity of territories that have historically shared a strong cultural tradition, with a common linguistic legacy, and it should be noted that it explicitly mentions the Catalan translation, available in the Zenodo database [+].

The article follows the precedent of other scientific publications on regional projects within the EBP, such as the Darwin Tree of Life (PNAS, 2022), the Portuguese Coalition for Biodiversity Genomics (EcoEvoArXiv, 2023), the African BioGenome Project (Nature, 2022) or the California Conservation Genomics Project (Journal of Heredity, 2022).

Addressing the challenge of biodiversity genomics

The Catalan Initiative for the Earth BioGenome Project (CBP) was promoted in 2019 by the Catalan Society of Biology (SCB), thanks to the legacy of Leandre Cervera (1891-1964) — president of the entity in hiding during Franco’s regime —, with the initial support of the Catalan Institution of Natural History (ICHN) and the Institute for Catalan Studies (IEC). The project now also receives funding from the Department of Research and Universities (Government of Catalonia) through the IEC. Biologists, botanists, zoologists, geneticists, bioinformaticists, microbiologists, ecologists and other experts have contributed their research efforts to an investigation that, for now, has the sequencing of the genomes of seventy-six species in its sights.

Nearly 150 experts from institutions such as the UB, CRG, IBE-UPF-CSIC, ICREA, CNAG, ICTA-UAB, BSC-CNS, CRAG, ICBIBE, CSIC-UIB and IBB, among others, have participated in this ambitious initiative. Biologists, botanists, zoologists, geneticists, bioinformaticists, microbiologists, ecologists and other experts have contributed their research efforts to an investigation that, for now, has the sequencing of the genomes of seventy-six species from Catalan-speaking territoriesin its sights.

The role of the CNAG in this project is to obtain the reference genome for all these species, thanks to its expertise of more than 10 years and its latest genomic technologies. The results are available on the following website: https://dades.biogenoma.cat.

In the pilot phase of the PBC, which began in the summer of 2020, a digitized catalogue of the eukaryotic species living in Catalonia has been created, with species of little-explored taxa, such as the freshwater flagellate (Singekia montserratensis); rare, endemic or difficult to locate species, such as the Catalan blind scorpion (Belisarius xambeui), or those considered emerging as biological models, such as the wall lizard (Podarcis muralis). The genomes of endangered species such as the Montseny brook newt (Calotriton arnoldi), the most endangered amphibian in Europe, or the red coral (Corallium rubrum); species used in medicine, such as the Pyrenean chamomile (Achillea ptarmica subsp. pyrenaica), or of economic interest, such as the pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula), are also to be provided.

One of the first genomes sequenced is that of the Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), a marine bird endemic to the Balearic Islands, critically endangered — especially due to accidental captures in longliners —, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

But beyond the borders of the Catalan-speaking territories, the PBC wants to form part of a global transformative movement to raise social awareness of the threat that biodiversity loss generates for human well-being, promoting a different and more balanced relationship with nature around the world.

» For further information: CNAG website [+]

» Reference article: Corominas, Montserrat; Marquès-Bonet, Tomàs; Arnedo, Miquel A. et al. The Catalan initiative for the Earth BioGenome Project: contributing local data to global biodiversity genomics, NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics, Volume 6, Issue 3, September 2024, lqae075, doi: 10.1093/nargab/lqae075