Chromosome-scale genome assembly of medicinal plant Tinospora sagittata (Oliv.) Gagnep. from the Menispermaceae family

Abstract

Tinospora sagittata (Oliv.) Gagnep. is an important medicinal tetraploid plant in the Menispermaceae family. Its tuber, Radix Tinosporae, used in traditional Chinese medicine, is rich in diterpenoids and benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs). To enhance our understanding of medicinal compounds’ biosynthesis and Menispermaceae’s evolution, we herein report assembling a high-quality chromosome-scale genome with both PacBio HiFi and Illumina sequencing technologies. PacBio Sequel II generated 2.5 million circular consensus sequencing (CCS) reads, and a hybrid assembly strategy with Illumina sequencing resulted in 4483 contigs. The assembled genome size was 2.33 Gb, consisting of 4070 scaffolds (N50 = 42.06 Mb), of which 92.05% were assigned to 26 pseudochromosomes. T. sagittata’s chromosomal-scale genome assembly, the first species in Menispermaceae, aids Menispermaceae evolution and T. sagittata’s secondary metabolites biosynthesis understanding.