Rice sheath blight-resistant germplasm YSBR1 T2T genome (PRJCA040647)

Sheath blight, a globally prevalent rice disease, has seen limited breeding progress due to scarce resistant germplasm and unclear resistance mechanisms. In our preliminary screening of indica-japonica hybrid progeny populations, we identified the sheath blight-resistant germplasm YSBR1. However, the uncharacterized genomic composition of this material has significantly hindered resistance gene cloning. Here, we integrated PacBio HiFi, ONT ultra-long, and Hi-C sequencing to achieve a telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome assembly for YSBR1. Comparative analysis revealed a mosaic genome composition: 60.31% indica origin, 22.27% japonica, 4.98% aus, 3.94% aromatic, and 8.51% conserved inter-subpopulation sequences. The introgression of divergent genomic segments likely facilitated the aggregation of superior sheath blight-resistant alleles, potentially underpinning its enhanced resistance. This work establishes a critical genomic resource for deciphering sheath blight resistance mechanisms and mining beneficial genes from YSBR1.