Genomic characterisation of a nematode tolerance locus in sugar beet

Early sugar beet breeding mostly focused on yield, while neglecting other favorable traits, including resistances and tolerances to various pathogens. A mapping-by-sequencing experiment was conducted to identify the trait locus associated with beet cyst nematode (BCN) tolerance. Two high-quality long-read genome assemblies and corresponding ab initio annotations were generated to guide this analysis: A new sugar beet reference genome sequence (KWS2320ONT_v1.0) was constructed as well as an assembly for the tolerant genotype U2Bv (U2BvONT_v1.0).