Jana R. Wold (ECOBIO, Rennes)
10/09/2026 10:30 - 12:00
Emplacement: Petri-Turing Room
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been the de facto genomic marker for population and functional genomics. To date, structural variants (SVs) have been largely overlooked due to challenges associated with accurately characterizing and genotyping them at scale. Pangenome graphs promise to reduce the effect of reference bias and facilitate the accurate characterisation and genotyping of SVs. However, there remain questions around how best to apply pangenome graphs to species with high intra-specific variation with indications that performance declines at low and high extremes of genomic variation. This is significant as there is a growing interest in accurately characterizing the functional implications of SVs across the tree of life. Here, we evaluate the utility and limitations of pangenome graphs for the seaweed fly (Coelopa frigida), a globally populous species with well described SV diversity and explore the implications for assessments of mutation load within and outside complex SVs such as inversion supergene. We explore approaches to identify derived and ancestral states of SVs across a range of sizes and complexity. Ultimately, this work aims to identify a practical approach to incorporating genome graphs into the study of non-model organisms, providing a more holistic perspective of SV diversity in natural populations.