De novo sequencing and chromosomal-scale genome assembly of leopard
coral grouper, Plectropomus leopardus
Abstract
The leopard coral grouper, Plectropomus leopardus, belonging to genus
Plectropomus, family Epinephelinae, is a carnivorous coral reef fish
widely distributing in the tropical and subtropical water of
Indo-Pacific Oceans. Due to its appealing body appearance and delicious
taste, P. leopardus has become a popular commercial fish for aquaculture
in many countries. However, the lack of genomic and molecular resources
for P. leopardus hinders its biological studies and genomic breeding
programs. Here we report the de novo sequencing and assembly of P.
leopardus genome using 10× Genomics and high-throughput chromosome
conformation capture (Hi-C) technologies. Using 127.36 Gb 10× Genomics
we generated a 902.90 Mb genome assembly with a contig and scaffold N50
of 31.8 Kb and 33.47 Mb, respectively. The scaffolds were clustered and
oriented into 24 pseudo-chromosomes with 13.39 Gb valid Hi-C data. BUSCO
analysis showed that 95.3% of the conserved single-copy genes were
retrieved, indicating a good entirety of the assembly. We predicted
23,234 protein-coding genes, among which 96.5% were functional
annotated. The P. leopardus genome provides a valuable genomic resource
for genetics, evolutionary and biological studies of this species.
Particularly, it is expected to benefit the development of genomic
breeding programs in the farming industry.