Pisum sativum cultivar Zhongwan6 genome sequencing and assembly

Pea (Pisum sativum L., 2n=2x=14), an annual cool season legume, belongs to Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, and Pisum with a genome size of approximately 4.45Gb. Pea is a multifunctional crop in the food and feed industry as a fresh vegetable and dry grain. The harvested area of peas are ranked fourth among legumes, after soybeans, common beans and chickpeas (http://www.fao.org/faostat/). As a source of protein, starch, fiber, and minerals endowed with a significant ecological sustainability advantage due to its biological nitrogen fixation capacity, pea has continued to draw attention, especially since Mendel uncovered the laws of inheritance through breeding experiments with peas. Pea was inferred to have been domesticated by Neolithic farmers in the Near East and the Middle East approximately 10,000 years ago and is considered one of the earliest domesticated legume crops. However, despite its critical role in advancing plant genetics, its domestication process remains a mystery, and the genetic diversity of cultivated and wild peas within Pisum has yet to be fully uncovered. This study aims to report a high-quality reference genome for Pea using broad grown cultivar Zhongwan6 in China. The high-quality reference genome will offer new insights into pea genome evolution and domestication as well as valuable genomic resources for research in pea genetics and breeding.