Phlebotomus papatasi Genome sequencing and assembly. Phlebotomus papatasi

Leishmaniasis is the second biggest parasitic killer after malaria. It is estimated to kill an estimated 40,000 people every year, and accounts for an estimated 2.4 million disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). The Leishmania parasite is transmitted to humans when female sand flies bite humans to obtain blood meals that they require for reproduction. A better understanding of sand fly biology and populations is important for the control and monitoring of this disease vector. This is a new, very high-quality reference genome sequence for Phlebotomus papatasi, found in the Old World, a primary vector of leishmaniasis that we hope will be a foundation for future efforts to monitor and control the vector of this devastating disease. We would like to thank Sarah Kingan and Pacific Biosciences for using this species as a test case for their ultra-low input HiFi library protocol and donating the resulting HiFi reads.