AUTHOR=Tang Min , Huang Jialin , Ma Xiangli , Du Juan , Bi Yufen , Guo Peiwen , Lu Hao , Wang Lei 

TITLE=A near-complete genome assembly of Thalia dealbata Fraser (Marantaceae)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1183361

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1183361

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>This study presents a chromosome-level, near-complete genome assembly of <italic>Thalia dealbata</italic> (Marantaceae), a typical emergent wetland plant with high ornamental and environmental value. Based on 36.99 Gb PacBio HiFi reads and 39.44 Gb Hi-C reads, we obtained a 255.05 Mb assembly, of which 251.92 Mb (98.77%) were anchored into eight pseudo-chromosomes. Five pseudo-chromosomes were completely assembled, and the other three had one to two gaps. The final assembly had a high contig N50 value (29.80 Mb) and benchmarking universal single-copy orthologs (BUSCO) recovery score (97.52%). The <italic>T. dealbata</italic> genome had 100.35 Mb repeat sequences, 24,780 protein-coding genes, and 13,679 non-coding RNAs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that <italic>T. dealbata</italic> was closest to <italic>Zingiber officinale</italic>, whose divergence time was approximately 55.41 million years ago. In addition, 48 and 52 significantly expanded and contracted gene families were identified within the <italic>T. dealbata</italic> genome. Moreover, 309 gene families were specific to <italic>T. dealbata</italic>, and 1,017 genes were positively selected. The <italic>T. dealbata</italic> genome reported in this study provides a valuable genomic resource for further research on wetland plant adaptation and the genome evolution dynamics. This genome is also beneficial for the comparative genomics of Zingiberales species and flowering plants.</p>