Chromosome-scale assembly and QTL mapping for major economic traits of Culter alburnus L. genome using Illumina, PacBio sequencing with Hi-C mapping information

The topmouth culter (Culter alburnus, 2n = 2x = 48), is a member of Cyprinidae, Cultrinae, Erythroculter, which of high economic value and nutritional value (1). They are widely distributed in the lakes and reservoirs of China (2). In the past ten years, with the breakthroughs in artificial breeding and breeding technology, the C. alburnus has been cultivated on a large scale in more than ten provinces and cities and forms an output value of nearly 10 billion yuan (3). In addition, C. alburnus is at the top of the food chain in the ecosystem of freshwater, and plays an important role in maintaining the stability of the ecosystem. However, most of the species used for breeding are wild species that have not been bred, and their potential genetic advantages have not been fully exploited (4). In addition, blind breeding, introduction, hybridization, and repeated breeding have caused the growth of the cultivated C. alburnus to slow down and individual germplasm declining or confounding phenomena such as miniaturization. Therefore, germplasm improvement has become an urgent need for the sustainable and healthy development of the fish breeding industry.