Chromosome-scale genome assembly of Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) variety 'Nijisseiki

AimThe Japanese pear (P. pyrifolia) variety Nijisseiki is valued for its superior flesh texture, which has led to its use as a breeding parent for most Japanese pear cultivars. However, in the absence of genomic resources for Japanese pear, the parents of the Nijisseiki cultivar remain unknown, as does the genetic basis of its favorable texture. The genomes of pear and related species are complex due to ancestral whole genome duplication and high heterozygosity, and long-sequencing technology was used to address this. Methods and ResultsDe novo assembly of long sequence reads covered 136x of the Japanese pear genome and generated 503.9 Mb contigs consisting of 114 sequences with an N50 value of 7.6{square}Mb. Contigs were assigned to Japanese pear genetic maps to establish 17 chromosome-scale sequences. In total, 44,876 protein-encoding genes were predicted, 84.3% of which were supported by predicted genes and transcriptome data from Japanese pear relatives. As expected, evidence of whole genome duplication was observed, consistent with related species. Conclusion and PerspectiveThis is the first genome sequence analysis reported for Japanese pear, and this resource will support breeding programs and provide new insights into the physiology and evolutionary history of Japanese pear.