Identification of abundant repetitive sequences in Vallisneria spinulosa

Vallisneria spinulosa is an important freshwater aquatic plant in terms of biodiversity and is of major human concern. However, limited genomic research has been performed on this plant. Here, we performed a de novo assembly and annotated the majority of repetitive sequences using a combination of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatics tools. Nearly 60% of the genome consists of repetitive sequences. The majority of the repeats are LTR-retrotransposons, comprising 43% of the genome. Though the amount of sequencing data used in our study was not sufficient for a whole-genome assembly, it enabled us to generate an overview of representative elements in the genome. These results will provide fundamental information for further study of this genus.