Ruellia speciosa isolate:Rspec5 Genome sequencing and assembly

We have contributed a new nuclear genome sequence that serves as only the third family represented by a nuclear genome sequence within the Asterid clade of flowering plants. This clade is of widespread economic and ecological importance yet has been understudied from a whole genome perspective. By building new genomic resources for Ruellia speciosa, this study additionally facilitates future investigation of both flower color and plant-pollinator evolution but also will enable focused investigation of the genomic architecture of plants that serve as evolutionary intermediates in a major transition pathway, in this case, from bee to hummingbird to bat pollination.