HAPLOTYPE-BASED GENOMIC ASSEMBLY AND RESEQUENCING OF THE ITALIAN ALMOND ‘FILIPPO CEA’

‘Filippo Cea’ is one of the most widely grown almond cultivars in Italy, as it merges relevant qualitative features. Here, we report the obtainment of a haplotype-based de novo assembly of the ‘Filippo Cea’ genome using PacBio long HiFi sequencing. The two genomes, FC_Hap1 and FC_Hap2, have an estimated size of 306 Mb and 285 Mb, with N50 of 12.34 Mb and 17.35 Mb, and L50 of 7 and 6 contigs, respectively. Genes predicted in both assemblies using available Uniprot protein clusters and RNA-seq libraries from different tissues and cultivars, captured > 98% of the BUSCO gene set, indicating high quality of the genome. Aiming to study intra-varietal genomic variation, DNA from nine ‘Filippo Cea’ accessions sampled from different growing areas are currently being resequenced with Illumina technology. The results of this study add important genomic resources to the scientific community working on almond. In addition, they are expected to be of high value for the consolidation of ‘Filippo Cea’ in the agrifood industry, its valorization through a Protected Origin Declaration mark, and its use in breeding programs.