High contiguity de novo genome sequence assembly of Trifoliate yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) using long read sequencing

The yam species Dioscorea dumetorum is one example of an orphan crop, not traded internationally. Post-harvest hardening starts within 24 hours after harvesting and renders the tubers inedible. Genomic resources are required for trifoliate yam to improve breeding for non-hardening varieties and for other traits.

Here, we describe the sequencing of the D. dumetorum genome and the generation of a de novo assembly together with a corresponding annotation.

The two haplophases of this highly heterozygous genome are 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 structures as well as 9,941 non-coding RNA genes were predicted and functional annotations were assigned.