Low-Coverage De Novo Genome Assembly Using R10.4.1 Oxford Nanopore: A Case Study in Barley

As crop genomics is transforming from small-scale, reference-dependent, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to larger-scale development of pan genomes, the need for rapid, cost-efficient methods of WGS is needed. This project aims to evaluate the feasibility of using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) R10.4.1 single flow cells for cost-effective, low-coverage WGS in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). By comparing ONT assemblies to high-fidelity PacBio sequences, we assess their structural accuracy, assembly quality, gene space representation, and utility for comparative genomic studies.