A chromosome-level genome assembly of Cistanche deserticola provides insights into its evolution and molecular mechanisms of parasitism.

ABSTRACT: Cistanche deserticola (C. deserticola) is a holoparasitic plant of the Orobanchaceae family that parasitizes the roots of Haloxylon ammodendron (H.ammodendron). The absence of a high-quality genome has impeded our understanding of its parasitic mechanisms. Here, we present a chromosome-level genome assembly of C. deserticola (6.26 Gb) based on PacBio high fidelity (HiFi) and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) sequencing, with a contig N50 of 81.25 Mb, 92.2% Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Ortholog (BUSCO) completeness, and 54 640 protein-coding genes. Evolutionary analysis shows that C. deserticola diverged from related Orobanchaceae species approximately 38.23 million years ago. Among its key parasitic adaptations is the extensive loss of photosynthetic genes, which

SUBMITTER: Zou R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12902248 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature