biostudies-literatureFaulk CKent State UniversityUSDA-NIFA HATCHNational Science FoundationAESjkaf034https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12005144biostudies-literatureUnknown15(4)The southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides) is one of the 2 species of muriquis (genus Brachyteles), the largest body-sized nonhuman primate from the Neotropics. Deforestation and illegal hunting have led to a continuing decline in the muriqui population, leading to their current classification as critically endangered. The lack of a reference genome for the genus Brachyteles prevents scientists from taking full advantage of genomic tools to improve their conservation status. This study reports the first whole-genome assemblies of the genus Brachyteles, using DNA from 2 zoo-housed southern muriqui females. We performed sequencing with Oxford Nanopore Technologies' PromethION 2 Solo using a native DNA library preparation to preserve DNA modifications. We used Flye to assemble genomes forG3 (Bethesda, Md.)De novo whole-genome assembly of the critically endangered southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides).PMC12005144MIN-16-1292123574Faulk CBanevicius NTakeshita RSCMedeiros MAWalls CArakaki PRNelson BChung WCJGonzalez IHLTalebi MSilva GPTeixeira RHFfalseDe novo whole-genome assembly of the critically endangered southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides).The southern muriqui (Brachyteles arachnoides) is one of the 2 species of muriquis (genus Brachyteles), the largest body-sized nonhuman primate from the Neotropics. Deforestation and illegal hunting have led to a continuing decline in the muriqui population, leading to their current classification as critically endangered. The lack of a reference genome for the genus Brachyteles prevents scientists from taking full advantage of genomic tools to improve their conservation status. This study reports the first whole-genome assemblies of the genus Brachyteles, using DNA from 2 zoo-housed southern muriqui females. We performed sequencing with Oxford Nanopore Technologies' PromethION 2 Solo using a native DNA library preparation to preserve DNA modifications. We used Flye to assemble genomes for2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Apr2026-04-08T18:35:36.894Z2026-04-08T09:41:50.43ZS-EPMC120051443996048110.1093/g3journal/jkaf034