High-Quality Genome Assembly of <em>Patiria pectinifera</em>: Distinct Heterozygosity and Transposon Features Uncovered

The blue bat star, a highly adaptive species in the East Sea of Korea, has displayed remarkable success in adapting to recent climate change. The genetic mechanisms behind this success were not well-understood, prompting our report on the first chromosome-level assembly of the <em>Patiria</em> genus. We assembled the genome using Nanopore and Illumina sequences, yielding a total length of 615 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 24,204,423 bp. Hi-C analysis allowed us to anchor the scaffold sequences onto 22 pseudochromosomes. K-mer based analysis revealed 5.16% heterozygosity rate of the genome, higher than any previously reported echinoderm species. Our transposable element analysis exposed genome-wide retrotransposons and DNA transposons contributing to rapid genome expansion and increased heterozygosity. Furthermore, gene structure annotation, predicted CDS and protein sequences and annotation of repeats were identified. These results offer valuable resources for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms behind <em>P. pectinifera</em>'s successful adaptation in fluctuating environments.