Chromosome-scale assembly of achiote (<i>Bixa </i><i>orellana</i>)

Bixa orellana, or achiote, is the domesticated species within the Bixa genus. Its high bixin content is extensively used as a pigment in the food industry. Achiote is a cross-pollinated, highly heterozygous species with a small genome size. Here, we generated a de novo genome assembly of Bixa orellana L. The assembly includes 10 chromosome-scale superscaffolds representing 96.4% of the assembly, for an overall genome size of 270Mb. Illumina RNA-Seq libraries from different tissues sampled from the same cultivar were used to annotate the genome. This work will be crucial for identifying the genes involved in bixin synthesis and its regulation. This work was supported by SECIHTI (formerly CONACYT: Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología: Fronteras de la Ciencia No. 2016-01-1716) to RRM, and the NSF National Science Foundation - Division of Integrative Organismal Systems grant 1956429 RESEARCH-PGR: Variants and Recombinants without Meiosis to L.C. and I.M.H. The sequencing was carried out by the DNA Technologies and Expression Analysis Core at the UC Davis Genome Center, supported by NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant 1S10OD010786-01. DC, postdoctoral position (FC No. 2016-01- 1716) supported by CONACYT.胭脂树（Bixa orellana，俗称achiote）是红木属（Bixa）的驯化栽培物种。其胭脂树红素（bixin）含量颇高，该物质作为天然色素被广泛应用于食品工业。胭脂树为异花授粉、高度杂合的物种，且基因组规模较小。本研究完成了胭脂树（Bixa orellana L.）的从头基因组组装（de novo genome assembly），该组装包含10条染色体级超级支架（superscaffolds），覆盖组装序列的96.4%，最终组装的基因组总大小为270 Mb。研究采用同一栽培品种不同组织的Illumina RNA测序（RNA-Seq）文库对该基因组进行注释。本研究对于解析胭脂树红素合成及其调控相关基因具有关键意义。 本研究得到SECIHTI（前身为CONACYT：墨西哥国家科学与技术委员会，项目编号Fronteras de la Ciencia No. 2016-01-1716）对RRM的资助，以及美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation，NSF）整合生物系统学部项目1956429 RESEARCH-PGR：“非减数分裂变异与重组”对L.C.与I.M.H.的资助。测序工作由加州大学戴维斯分校基因组中心DNA技术与表达分析核心实验室完成，该实验室获得美国国立卫生研究院（National Institutes of Health，NIH）共享仪器项目Grant 1S10OD010786-01的支持。DC的博士后岗位由CONACYT资助（项目编号FC No. 2016-01-1716）。