A de novo genome assembly of swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis carabanesis) at chromosome-level

Swamp buffalo (<i>Bubalus carabanesis</i>), a sub-species of water buffalo (<i>Bubalus bubalis</i>), is an essential farm animal for the drought power and meat production. The chromosomal level genome of swamp buffalo could facilitate to understand the genetic characteristics and genome evolution on this species. In this study, we assembled the high-quality genome of swamp buffalo by using HiSeq short reads, PacBio long reads and Hi-C data. The estimation of the genome size is 2.88 Gb using 21-mer frequency distribution analysis with jellyfish. A final assembly of 2.67Gb genome sequences was obtained, of which 97.91% of the assembled sequences were anchored to 24 pseudochromosomes with a scaffold N50 123.15 Mb and the longest pseudochromosome of 279.78 Mb. We further annotated repetitive elements (47.1%), NcRNA (0.11%) and predicted 18,860 protein-coding genes, of which 96.41% (18,182) were functionally annotated. The chromosomal level genome provides a reference for functional genes mapping and a resource for evolution analysis of swamp buffalo. Moreover, it will be helpful for genetic improvement and molecular breeding of swamp buffalo.