High Contiguity De Novo Genome Sequence Assembly of Trifoliate Yam (<i>Dioscorea dumetorum</i>) Using Long Read Sequencing

Trifoliate yam (<i>Dioscorea dumetorum</i>) is one example of an orphan crop, not traded internationally. Post-harvest hardening of the tubers of this species starts within 24 h after harvesting and renders the tubers inedible. Genomic resources are required for <i>D. dumetorum</i> to improve breeding for non-hardening varieties as well as for other traits. We sequenced the <i>D. dumetorum</i> genome and generated the corresponding annotation. The two haplophases of this highly heterozygous genome were separated to a large extent. The assembly represents 485 Mbp of the genome with an N₅₀ of over 3.2 Mbp. A total of 35,269 protein-encoding gene models as well as 9941 non-coding RNA genes were predicted, and functional annotations were assigned.