A Chromosome-scale Genome Assembly of : Insights into the Evolution of Section (Fagaceae)

is an ecologically and economically important species of section and is a dominant species in evergreen broad-leaved forests in subtropical regions of East Asia. In the present study, we reported a high-quality chromosome-scale genome assembly of , the first reference genome for section , using the combination of Illumina and PacBio sequencing with Hi-C technologies. The assembled genome size of was 889.71 Mb, with a contig number of 773 and a contig N50 of 28.32 Mb. Hi-C scaffolding anchored 859.07 Mb contigs (96.54% of the assembled genome) onto 12 pseudochromosomes, with a scaffold N50 of 70.35 Mb. A combination of , homology-based, and transcript-based predictions predicted a final set of 36,442 protein-coding genes distributed on 12 pseudochromosomes, and 97.73% of them were functionally annotated. A total of 535.64 Mb (60.20%) of repetitive sequences were identified. Genome evolution analysis revealed that was most closely related to and they diverged at 40.35 Ma, and did not experience species-specific whole-genome duplication in addition to the ancient (γ) whole-genome triplication event shared by core eudicot plants. underwent considerable gene family expansion and contraction, with 598 expanded and 6,509 contracted gene families detected. The first chromosome-scale genome of will promote its germplasm conservation and genetic improvement and provide essential resources for better studying the evolution of section .