AUTHOR=Ye Huan , Fan Jiahui , Hou Yanling , Yue Huamei , Ruan Rui , Li Shuang , Hu Chongjiang , Xie Yong , Li Chuangju 

TITLE=Chromosome-level genome assembly of the largefin longbarbel catfish (Hemibagrus macropterus)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2023.1297119

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2023.1297119

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>The largefin longbarbel catfish, <italic>Hemibagrus macropterus</italic>, is an economically important fish species in southwestern China, with males growing faster than females. This study presents a high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of the largefin longbarbel catfish, generated by integrating Illumina short reads, PacBio HiFi long reads, and Hi-C data. The assembled genome size was 858.5 Mb, with a contig and scaffold N50 of 5.8 Mb and 28.4 Mb, respectively. A total of 656 contigs were successfully anchored to 30 pseudochromosomes with a BUSCO score of 97.7%, consistent with the number of chromosomes analyzed by karyotype. The genome contained 29.5% repeat sequences, and a predicted total of 26,613 protein-coding genes, of which 25,769 (96.8%) were functionally annotated in different databases. Evolutionary analysis showed that <italic>H. macropterus</italic> was most closely related to <italic>H. wyckioides</italic>, with a divergence time of approximately 16.3 million years. Chromosomal syntenic relationships among <italic>H. macropterus</italic>, <italic>H. wyckioides</italic>, and <italic>Pelteobagrus fulvidraco</italic> revealed a one-to-one relationship for most chromosomes, except for break, fission, and inversion of some chromosomes. The first high-quality reference genome will not only provide a valuable genetic resource for the study of sex determination mechanisms and genetic breeding of largefin longbarbel catfish, but also contribute to comparative analyses of genome and chromosome evolution within Siluriformes.</p>