A chromosome-level genome assembly of critically endangered Ochetobius elongatus.

Ochetobius elongatus, a critically endangered species found in the Yangtze River was the subject of our study in which we leveraged PacBio and Hi-C data to assemble a chromosome-scale genome. This assembly comprises 24 pseudo-chromosomes, yielding a genome size of 883.1 Mb with a scaffold N50 length of 35.1 Mb, indicative of a highly contiguous assembly. A BUSCO assessment ascertained the comprehensiveness of the genome at 98.3%. Annotation efforts identified 28,674 putative protein-coding genes, with 44.63% of the assembled genome annotated as repetitive sequences. Collinearity analysis between O. elongatus and two other species from the family Xenocyprididae revealed high collinearity, indicating good assembly quality of O. elongatus The completion of the O. elongatus genome assembly in this study signifies a critical advancement for its conservation, enabling deeper insights into its genetic diversity and facilitating the development of targeted preservation strategies.