#5 · Genomics

Cross-species genomics links regulatory grammar and ecology to evolutionary rates

The dominant thread is comparison across species at genome scale, though the items differ in question and method. The VarGoats preprint aligns an ancestral Capra genome with multi-genome alignments to link mutation profiles to geography and predict origin. The Thoroughbred study combines the Phar Lap genome with 850 horse genomes to model diversity decline since 1932 and selection loci tied to racing. The axolotl preprint transfers a regeneration motif grammar to mammalian loci and uses AlphaGenome to predict bivalent dormant chromatin states. CroCoNet provides an R framework for quantitative comparison of gene regulatory networks from single-cell transcriptomics across species. The avian study applies causal mediation analysis to 363 newly sequenced genomes, linking flight style and metabolism to evolutionary rate. The distinctive combination across these items is regulatory-grammar transfer, network-level comparison, and quantitative attribution of evolutionary rate to ecological traits.