Genomic data from the domestic pigeon ( Columba livia ).

The sub-species sequenced was a breed known as the Danish Tumbler, a show pigeon with a distinct color markings. The domestic pigeon genome sequence provides a better understanding of such a widespread creature, including certain mechanisms that scientists still fail to understand fully, such as the magnetosensitivity.

The sequencing data also presents insight into the species similarities to and differences from other birds, and to how breeding might have shaped its genome as this sub-species was taken from Asian colonies to Denmark 400 years ago and selectively bred. In 2010, BGI used the whole genome shotgun sequencing and IlluminaHiseq 2000 system to generate 98X short reads for a Danish Tumbler. The raw data was then used by the assembler SOAPdenovo to produce a draft assembly of 1.1 Gb with N50 scaffold length of 3.1Mb and N50 contig length of 22.4 Kb.