A chromosomal-scale genome assembly of Apicomplexan parasite Eimeria reveals genetic bases for precociousness and diclazuril resistance

This study assembled E. tenella and E. maxima genome by single-molecule real-time sequencing (SMRT), and scaffolded the contigs to chromosome level by genome-wide contact matrix data using Hi-C technology. Then, we mapped the selective sweep regions resulted from the directional precocious selection by allele frequency based delta SNP-index. Additionally, genetically cross-fertilizations between precocious line and diclazuril resistant strain were generated and sequenced to find the specific targets of both diclazuril resistance and precociousness.