Draft genome of the lichen-forming fungus Lasallia hispanica

Lasallia hispanica (Frey) Sancho & A. Crespo is one of three Lasallia species occurring in central-western Europe. It is an orophytic, photophilous Mediterranean endemic which is sympatric with the closely-related, widely distributed, highly clonal sister taxon L. pustulata in the supra- and oromediterranean belts. We have sequenced the genome of L. hispanica from a multispore isolate. The total genome length is 41.2 Mb, including 8,488 gene models. We present the annotation of a variety of genes that are involved in protein secretion, mating processes, and secondary metabolism, and we report transposable elements. Additionally, we compared the genome of L. hispanica to the closely-related, yet ecologically distant L. pustulata and found high synteny in gene content and order. The newly assembled and annotated L. hispanica genome represents a useful resource for future investigations into niche differentiation, speciation, and microevolution in L. hispanica and other members of the genus.