The saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is the national bird of Hungary, and has unique morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations allowing them to be successful hunters. It often hunts by horizontal pursuit of rodents and birds, rather than the high-speed dives (stoop from a height) some other birds of prey such as the peregrine use.
Here we present the data for the saker falcon genome that was obtained using an Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform that generated a 136.21 Gb sequence. Paired-end libraries with insert sizes of 170, 500 and 800 bp (short inserts) and 5, 10 and 20 kb (long inserts) were constructed. The initial genome size was estimated at 1.2 Gb, suggesting a genome coverage of 113.51x. SOAPdenovo was used for assembly and resulted in scaffold N50 and contig values of 4.15 Mb and 31.2 kb, respectively. Fosmid-based Sanger sequencing confirmed >97% coverage of euchromatic DNA. This data will help provide insights into the evolution of the sakers predatory lifestyle.

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a top predator that has unique morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations, allowing them to be successful hunters it is also known as the worlds fastest animal.
The peregrine falcon genome was sequenced to further understand the evolutionary adaptation of this successful hunter. An Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform was used to generate a 128.07 Gb sequence and the initial genome size was estimated at 1.2 Gb, suggesting a genome coverage of 106.72X.
SOAPdenovo was used for assembly and resulted in scaffold and contig N50 values of 3.89 Mb and 28.6 kb respectively. Fosmid-based Sanger sequencing confirmed >99% coverage of euchromatic DNA. These data provide insights into evolution of the peregrines predatory lifestyle.

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is considered a symbol of China and is a much loved animal all around the world. It is also one of the worlds most endangered species, making it a flagship species for conservation efforts. As the first fully sequenced Ursidae and the second fully sequenced carnivore after the dog, the whole genome sequence and annotation data provide an unparalleled amount of information to aid in understanding the genetic and biological underpinnings of this unique species, and will help contribute to disease control and conservation efforts.In 2008, BGI completed a first draft of the genome sequence of a three-year old female giant panda named Jingjing, who was used as a model for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China (doi: 10.1038/nature08696). Using second-generation Illumina GA sequencing data, the first de novo genome assembly was created using short-read sequencing technology. Here you will find the giant panda genome sequence assembly as well as annotation information, such as gene structure and function, non-coding RNAs, and repeat elements. Also presented are polymorphism information detected in the diploid genome, including SNPs, indels, and structural variations (SVs). The assembly was done using SOAPdenovo software and the panda genome data is visualized via MapView, which is powered by the Google Web Toolkit.