Chromosome-level genome assembly of the Asian aspen Populus davidiana Dode.

The genome of Populus davidiana, a keystone aspen species, has been sequenced to improve our understanding of the evolutionary and functional genomics of the Populus genus. The Hi-C scaffolding genome assembly resulted in a 408.1 Mb genome with 19 pseudochromosomes. The BUSCO assessment revealed that 98.3% of the genome matched the embryophytes dataset. A total of 31,862 protein-coding sequences were predicted, of which 31,619 were functionally annotated. The assembled genome was composed of 44.9% transposable elements. These findings provide new knowledge about the characteristics of the P. davidiana genome and will facilitate comparative genomics and evolutionary research on the genus Populus.