Long-read genome assembly of the insect model organism Tribolium castaneum
The aim of this study was to generate a new, high-quality Tribolium castaneum genome assembly (TcasONT) by combining Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing, and reference-guided assembly approach. The new TcasONT assembly proved to be enhanced by nearly 53 Mb compared to the last version of the T. castaneum genome, Tcas5.2. The TcasONT assembly exhibits higher gene completeness and a 20-fold enrichment in the repetitive genome part. Indeed, the enlargement of the TcasONT assembly was up to 50 Mb when all classes of repetitive sequences were considered. Therefore, TcasONT assembly not only contributes to the identification of potential novel genes but also provides an excellent platform for the analysis of different repetitive genome fractions.