The Draft Genome Assembly of the Critically Endangered <em>Nyssa yunnanensis</em>, a Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations Endemic to Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

Nyssa yunnanensis is a deciduous tree species in the family Nyssaceae within the order Cornales. As only eight individual trees and two populations have been recorded in China&amp;rsquo;s Yunnan province, this species has been listed among China&amp;rsquo;s national Class I protection species since 1999 and also among 120 PSESP (Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations) in the Implementation Plan of Rescuing and Conserving China&amp;rsquo;s Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations(PSESP) (2011-2-15). Here, we present the draft genome assembly of N. yunnanensis. Using 10X Genomics linked-reads sequencing data, we carried out the de novo assembly and annotation analysis. The N. yunnanensis genome assembly is 1475 Mb in length, containing 288,519 scaffolds with a scaffold N50 length of 985.59 kb. Within the assembled genome, 799.51 Mb was identified as repetitive elements, accounting for 54.24% of the sequenced genome, and a total of 39,803 protein-coding genes were predicted. With the genomic characteristics of N. yunnanensis available, our study might facilitate future conservation biology studies to help protect this extremely threatened tree species.</jats:p