Chromosome-scale assembly of the yellow mealworm genome

The yellow mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, is a promising alternative protein source for animal and human nutrition and its farming involves relatively low environmental costs. For these reasons, its industrial scale production started this century. However, to optimize and breed sustainable new T. molitor lines, the access to its genome remains essential. By combining Oxford Nanopore and Illumina Hi-C data, we constructed a high-quality chromosome-scale assembly of T. molitor with a N50= 22Mb and a BUSCO completeness of 99.5%. Using RNA-seq data and available coleoptera proteomes, we predicted 21,435 genes with a median size of 1,780 bp. Gene orthology between T. molitor and Tribolium castaneaum showed a highly conserved synteny between the two coleoptera but suggests possible chromosome fusions. The present genome will greatly help genetic breeding and will contribute to the sustainable production of the yellow mealworm.