Data from: A chromosomal-scale genome assembly of Tectona grandis reveals the importance of tandem gene duplication and enables discovery of genes in natural product biosynthetic pathways

Background: Teak, a member of the Lamiaceae family, produces one of the
most expensive hardwoods in the world. High demand coupled with
deforestation have caused a decrease in natural teak forests, and future
supplies will be reliant on teak plantations. Hence, selection of teak
tree varieties for clonal propagation with superior growth performance is
of great importance, and access to high-quality genetic and genomic
resources can accelerate the selection process by identifying genes
underlying desired traits. Findings: To facilitate teak research and
variety improvement, we generated a highly contiguous, chromosomal-scale
genome assembly using high-coverage PacBio long reads coupled with
high-throughput chromatin conformation capture. Of the 18 teak
chromosomes, we generated 17 near-complete pseudomolecules with one
chromosome present as two chromosome arm scaffolds. Genome annotation
yielded 31,168 genes encoding 46,826 gene models, of which, 39,930 and
41,155 had Pfam domain and expression evidence, respectively. We
identified 14 clusters of tandem-duplicated terpene synthases (TPSs),
genes central to the biosynthesis of terpenes which are involved in plant
defense and pollinator attraction. Transcriptome analysis revealed 10 TPSs
highly expressed in woody tissues, of which, 8 were in tandem, revealing
the importance of resolving tandemly duplicated genes and the quality of
the assembly and annotation. We also validated the enzymatic activity of
four TPSs to demonstrate the function of key TPSs. Conclusions: In
summary, this high-quality chromosomal-scale assembly and functional
annotation of the teak genome will facilitate the discovery of candidate
genes related to traits critical for sustainable production of teak and
for anti-insecticidal natural products.