Costus pulverulentus genome annotations

The spiral gingers (Costus L.) are a pantropical genus of herbaceous
perennial monocots; the Neotropical clade of Costus radiated rapidly in
the past few million years into over 60 species. The Neotropical spiral
gingers have a rich history of evolutionary and ecological research that
can motivate and inform modern genetic investigations. Here, we present
the first two chromosome-level genome assemblies in the genus, for C.
pulverulentus and C. lasius, and briefly compare their synteny. We
assembled the C. pulverulentus genome from a combination of short-read
data, Chicago and Dovetail Hi-C chromatin-proximity sequencing, and
alignment with a linkage map. We assembled the C. lasius genome with
Pacific Biosciences HiFi long reads and alignment to the C. pulverulentus
genome. These two assemblies are the first published genomes for
non-cultivated tropical plants. These genomes solidify the spiral gingers
as a model system and will facilitate research on the poorly understood
genetic basis of tropical plant diversification.