Draft genome of incense tree Aquilaria crassna Pierre ex Lecomte (Thymelaeaceae). Aquilaria crassna isolate:Acra2019

Background Lign aloes or incense trees in the genus Aquilaria (Thymelaeaceae) are native to the forests of southeast Asia and primary sources for agarwood production. Twenty species in this genus have been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and among them, thirteen of them are threatened with extinction. Nevertheless, genomic resources of only two species (Aquilaria sinensis and Aquilaria agallocha) are currently available, hindering molecular and genetic studies of Aquilaria for improving agarwood applications and conservation efforts. Results Here, we present a draft genome assembly for the critically endangered Aquilaria crassna Pierre ex Lecomte, a lign aloe distributed throughout southeast Asia. The 776.6 Mb genome assembly has a scaffold N50 of 40.1 kb and is of reasonably high completeness, with 93.2% BUSCO score. Comparative analyses of terpenoid pathway and WRKY transcription factor genes were carried out. Conclusion This study enriches the genomic resources for trees in the genus Aquilaria of cultural, economic and conserved values and expands the understanding on the terpenoid biosynthesis pathway and WRKY transcription factor genes in Aquilaria.