The chromosome-scale genome assembly of Rheum palmatum

Rhubarb is one of common traditional Chinese medicine with a diverse array of therapeutic efficacies. We assembled the genome of Rheum palmatum L. using a combination of PacBio HiFi, Oxford Nanopore, Illumina and Hi-C scaffolding approaches. Around 2.8 Gb genome was obtained after assembly with more than 99.9% sequences anchored to 11 pseudochromosomes (scaffold N50 = 259.19 Mb). Transposable elements (TE) with a continuous expansion of long terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTRs) is predominant in genome size, contributing to the genome expansion of R. palmatum. Totally 30,480 genes were predicted to be protein-coding genes.