PhaeoEpiView: An epigenome browser of the newly assembled genome of the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

MotivationRecent advances in DNA sequencing technologies in particular of long reads type greatly improved genomes assembly leading to discrepancies between both published annotations and epigenome tracks which did not keep pace with new assemblies. This comprises the availability of accurate resources which penalizes the progress in research. ResultsHere, we used the latest improved telomere to telomere assembly of the model pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to lift over the gene models from Phatr3, a previously annotated reference genome. We used the lifted genome annotation including genes and transposable elements to map the epigenome landscape, namely DNA methylation and post translational modifications of histones providing the community with PhaeoEpiView, a browser that allows the visualization of epigenome data as well as transcripts on an updated reference genome to better understand the biological significance of the mapped data on contiguous genome rather than a fragmented one. We updated previously published histone marks with a more accurate mapping using monoclonal antibodies instead of polyclonal and deeper sequencing. PhaeoEpiView will be continuously updated with the newly published epigenomic data making it the largest and richest epigenome browser of any stramenopile. We expect that PhaeoEpiView will be a standard tool for the coming era of molecular environmental studies where epigenetics holds a place of choice. AvailabilityPhaeoEpiView is available at: https://PhaeoEpiView.univ-nantes.fr