1. Genome assemblies and comparison of two Neotropical spiral gingers: Costus pulverulentus and C. lasius.
- Author
-
Harenčár, Julia, Vargas, Oscar M, Escalona, Merly, Schemske, Douglas W, and Kay, Kathleen M
- Subjects
Costus ,Ginger ,Chromosome Mapping ,Synteny ,Genome ,Plant ,Genome ,genome resources ,herbaceous ,monocot ,synteny ,tropical plant ,Human Genome ,Biotechnology ,Genetics ,Evolutionary Biology - Abstract
The spiral gingers (Costus L.) are a pantropical genus of herbaceous perennial monocots; the Neotropical clade of Costus radiated rapidly in the past few million years into over 60 species. The Neotropical spiral gingers have a rich history of evolutionary and ecological research that can motivate and inform modern genetic investigations. Here, we present the first 2 chromosome-level genome assemblies in the genus, for C. pulverulentus and C. lasius, and briefly compare their synteny. We assembled the C. pulverulentus genome from a combination of short-read data, Chicago and Dovetail Hi-C chromatin-proximity sequencing, and alignment with a linkage map. We annotated the genome by mapping a C. pulverulentus transcriptome and querying mapped transcripts against a protein database. We assembled the C. lasius genome with Pacific Biosciences HiFi long reads and alignment to the C. pulverulentus genome. These 2 assemblies are the first published genomes for non-cultivated tropical plants. These genomes solidify the spiral gingers as a model system and will facilitate research on the poorly understood genetic basis of tropical plant diversification.
- Published
- 2023