Genome sequencing is a powerful tool that can inform management of threatened species. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are a globally recognized species that captured the hearts and minds of the world during the 2019/2020 Australian megafires. In 2022, koalas were listed as ‘Endangered’ in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. Populations have declined because of various threats such as land clearing, habitat fragmentation, and disease, all of which are exacerbated by climate change. Here, we present the Koala Genome Survey, an open data resource that was developed after the Australian megafires. A systematic review conducted in 2020 demonstrated our understanding of genomic diversity within koala populations was scant, with only a handful of SNP studies conducted. Interrogating data showed that only 6 of 49 New South Wales’ areas of regional koala significance had meaningful genome-wide data, with only 7 loca-tions in Queensland with SNP data, and 4 locations in Victoria. In 2021, we launched the Koala Genome Survey to generate re-sequenced genomes across the Australian east coast. We have publicly released 430 koala genomes (average coverage: 32.25X, range: 11.3-66.8X) on the Amazon Web Services Open Data platform to accelerate research that can inform current and future con-servation planning.
This data was produced as part of the Koala Genome Survey with funding from the NSW Government and the Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery for Wildlife and their Habitats program (GA-2000526), further support was provided by the University of Sydney, Amazon Web Services Open Data Sets, Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics and Illumina.
Data can be accessed at: https://awgg-lab.github.io/australasiangenomes/species/Phascolarctos_cinereus.html