Zamyatin, AntonAvdeyev, PavelLiang, JiangtaoSharma, AtashiChen, ChujiaLukyanchikova, VarvaraAlexeev, NikitaTu, Zhijian JakeAlekseyev, Max A.Sharakhov, Igor V.2021-08-242021-08-242021-03-012047-217X6170950 (PII)http://hdl.handle.net/10919/104695Background: Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles arabiensis belong to the Anopheles gambiae complex and are among the major malaria vectors in sub-Saharan Africa. However, chromosome-level reference genome assemblies are still lacking for these medically important mosquito species. Findings: In this study, we produced de novo chromosome-level genome assemblies for A. coluzzii and A. arabiensis using the long-read Oxford Nanopore sequencing technology and the Hi-C scaffolding approach. We obtained 273.4 and 256.8 Mb of the total assemblies for A. coluzzii and A. arabiensis, respectively. Each assembly consists of 3 chromosome-scale scaffolds (X, 2, 3), complete mitochondrion, and unordered contigs identified as autosomal pericentromeric DNA, X pericentromeric DNA, and Y sequences. Comparison of these assemblies with the existing assemblies for these species demonstrated that we obtained improved reference-quality genomes. The new assemblies allowed us to identify genomic coordinates for the breakpoint regions of fixed and polymorphic chromosomal inversions in A. coluzzii and A. arabiensis. Conclusion: The new chromosome-level assemblies will facilitate functional and population genomic studies in A. coluzzii and A. arabiensis. The presented assembly pipeline will accelerate progress toward creating high-quality genome references for other disease vectors.16 page(s)application/pdfenCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 InternationalLife Sciences & BiomedicineBiologyAnopheles arabiensisAnopheles coluzziimalaria mosquitogenome assemblyOxford nanopore sequencingHi-C chromosome conformation captureChromosome-level genome assemblies of the malaria vectors Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles arabiensisArticle - Refereed2021-08-24Gigasciencehttps://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giab017103Liang, Jiangtao [0000-0002-8468-7457]Tu, Zhijian [0000-0003-4227-3819]Sharakhov, Igor [0000-0003-0752-3747]33718948 (pubmed)2047-217X