Researchers Map Muscina Stabulans Genome
A chromosome-level reference genome for the fly species now provides a high-quality resource for phylogenomics and forensic research.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Life Sciences
Researchers have published a chromosome-level reference genome for Muscina stabulans, a fly species. The assembly spans 747.50 Mb and is anchored into five pseudochromosomes.
Why it matters
The lack of a high-quality reference genome has limited phylogenomics, functional genomics, and genomic interpretation of forensic traits in this lineage. A reliable reference now supports deeper study of the species.
The assembly reports a scaffold N50 of 136.70 Mb and a BUSCO completeness of 97.8% across 1,367 genes, with 96.3% single-copy and 1.5% duplicated. Repetitive elements make up 61.33% of the genome, and the annotation includes 12,693 protein-coding genes.
The details
The assembly was built by integrating PacBio HiFi long reads, Illumina short reads, and Hi-C data. Quality was assessed using read-mapping rates, per-pseudochromosome BUSCO completeness, LTR Assembly Index of 19.86, chromosome-scale coverage, terminal telomeric repeats, and GC content consistency.
Timeline
November 7, 2026: Article published with the genome assembly findings.
Big Picture
Using BUSCO benchmarking, this 97.8% completeness score places the Muscina stabulans assembly among high-quality reference genomes. Its LTR Assembly Index of 19.86 further supports chromosome-scale contiguity.
A high-quality reference genome can support future work in forensic genetics and population studies of this fly lineage. Researchers and forensic analysts may use the annotated gene set for more precise genomic interpretation.
The takeaway
A chromosome-level genome gives researchers a dependable foundation for future studies of this species. The annotated gene set and high completeness make it useful across multiple fields.
Further reading
Explore more research in our Life Sciences section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Nature.
