Telomere to telomere level genome assembly of the Yarkand hare (Lepus yarkandensis)

The Yarkand hare (Lepus yarkandensis) is endemic to the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, China. The Yarkand hare is key species and critical components of Tarim Basin ecosystems. However, the lack of a reference genome has hindered evolutionary and genetic studies of this specie. Here, we assembled a telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome of the Yarkand hare based on PacBio HiFi, Nanopore and Hi-C sequencing. About 94.88% of the assembled sequences could be anchored to 24 pseudo-chromosomes. The assembled genome size is approximately 2.70 Gb, with a scaffold N50 of 126.86 Mb. Repetitive sequences constituted 46.38% of the genome, with short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) representing the largest proportion. Additionally, we identified 24 centromeres and 46 telomeres. We annotated 32,298 protein-coding genes through de novo prediction and transcriptome data, 85% of which could be functionally annotated. This genome assembly provides genomic resources for the studies of population dynamics, adaptive evolution, conservation, and exploration of biological pathways for important traits in the Yarkand hare.