A Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of Toona ciliata (Meliaceae)

Genome Biol Evol. 2022 Aug 3;14(8):evac121. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evac121.

Abstract

Toona ciliata Roem is an important timber species in the Toona genus of the Meliaceae family and an endangered species due to over-cutting and a low rate of natural regeneration in China. Although molecular markers have been applied to studying population genetic diversity, the absence of a reliable reference genome limits in-depth genetic conservation and evolutionary studies of this species. Here, we reported a high-quality assembly of the whole genome sequence of T. ciliata. The total assembled genome has 520.64 Mb in length anchored on 28 chromosomes (contig N50 = 4.48 Mb). A total of 42,159 genes were predicted after the ab initio, homology-based, and transcriptome analyses. A total of 41,284 protein-encoding genes (97.92%) were functionally annotated and 1,246 non-coding RNAs were identified in the T. ciliata genome. Phylogenomic analysis showed that T. ciliata was divergent at 15.06 (6-25) Ma from T. sinensis of the same genus Toona. This whole genome sequence provides a valuable resource to study the genetic conservation and molecular evolution of T. ciliata in the future.

Keywords: Toona ciliata; Hi-C; Meliaceae; Nanopore; phylogenetic evolution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chromosomes
  • Endangered Species
  • Genome
  • Meliaceae* / genetics
  • Phylogeny
  • Toona