De Novo Assembly of an Allotetraploid Artemisia argyi Genome

The Chinese mugwort (Artemisia argyi Lev. et Vaniot) is an important traditional Chinese medicine plant that is ubiquitously disturbed in Asia. However, the molecular mechanisms that reflect the natural evolution of Artemisia argyi remain unclear. In this study, a high-quality draft assembly of the allotetraploid A. argyi (ArteW1-Tongbai) was conducted utilizing PacBio long-read sequencing and Hi-C technologies. The assembly is about 7.20 Gb with a contig N50 length of 0.87 Mb. The allotetraploid genome of ArteW1-Tongbai is highly heterozygous and rich in repeat sequences (the heterozygous ratio is 1.36%, and the repeat rate is 86.26%). A total of 139,245 protein-coding genes were identified. The KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that 846 species-specific genes were related to the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. The plants with allopolyploid genomes can potentially exhibit a better adaptive capacity to environmental stresses and accumulation of secondary metabolites. Therefore, the genome assembly serves as a valuable reference for Artemisia, the genus characterized by species richness and diverse specialized metabolites.