Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly for and Highlights to Mechanisms for Leaf Color and Shape Change.

(Pax) Komarov is an ornamental plant with prominent potential and is naturally distributed in Northeast China. Here, we obtained a chromosome-scale genome assembly of combining HiFi and Hi-C data, and the final assembled genome size was 690.24 Mb and consisted of 287 contigs, with a contig N50 value of 5.7 Mb and a BUSCO complete gene percentage of 98.4%. Genome evolution analysis showed that an ancient duplication occurred in . Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Aceraceae family could be incorporated into Sapindaceae, consistent with the present Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system. We further construct a gene-to-metabolite correlation network and identified key genes and metabolites that might be involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis pathways during leaf color change. Additionally, we identified crucial teosinte branched1, cycloidea, and proliferating cell factors (TCP) transcription factors that might be involved in leaf morphology regulation of , and . Overall, this reference genome is a valuable resource for evolutionary history studies of and lays a fundamental foundation for its molecular breeding.