An Integrated OMICs Approach of Assembly and Annotation of Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) plant genome provides insights into an array of genes involved in Santalol biosynthesis

Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) is an economically important plant known for its aromatic wood. This highly valued plant has also been reported as an endangered species. Despite its economic value, the genome sequence of this plant is not yet available. In the current study,we report the draft genome sequence of sandalwood generated using Illumina HiSeq1000 sequencing platform. Genome annotation was carried out using InterProScan tool and Uniprot database,which was further facilitated using in-house RNA-Seq data. Further, we carried out in-depth proteome analysis of samples derived from four tissues viz., shoot meristem, leaf, stem and fruit using high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. Proteogenomics analysis was performed to identify novel gene models, revise the predicted gene structures and provide experimental evidence for the predicted genes. Our analysis resulted in the identification of 72,325 peptides mapping to 10,076 genes predicted in the sandalwood genome thereby validating the expression of these gene models. Additionally, this study also provides evidence for 53 novel protein coding genes and revision of 121existing gene models.