Zhen-Sheng Li

The homoeolog-resolved assembly of the 40-Gb decaploid Thinopyrum ponticum genome reveals extensive homoeologous exchange and recombination, segmental allopolyploid organization, and allelic variations for wheat improvement.

The decaploid grass Thinopyrum ponticum (Th. ponticum, 2n = 10x = 70) is valuable for improving wheat resilience to biotic and abiotic stressors. However, the high level of ploidy and repetitive nature of its large genome present challenges for genome assembly. We used long-read sequencing and an iterative reassembly s...