Genome sequence and annotation ofPericonia digitata, a promising biocontrol agent of phytopathogenic oomycetes

AbstractThePericoniafungal genus belongs to the phylum Ascomycota, order Pleosporales, family Periconiaceae.Periconiaare found in many habitats but little is known about their ecology. Several species from this genus produce bioactive molecules.Periconia digitataextracts were shown to be deadly active against the pine wilt nematode. Furthermore,P. digitatawas shown to inhibit plant pathogenic oomycetePhytophthora parasitica. BecauseP. digitatahas great potential as a biocontrol agent and high quality genomic resources are still lacking in the Periconiaceae family, we generated long-read genomic data forP. digitata. Using the PacBio Hifi sequencing technology, we obtained a highly-contiguous genome assembled in 13 chromosomes and totalling ca. 39 Mb. In addition, we produced a reference transcriptome, based on 12 different culture conditions, and proteomic data to support the genome annotation. Besides representing a new reference genome within the Periconiaceae, this work will contribute to our better understanding of the Eukaryotic tree of life and opens new possibilities in terms of biotechnological applications.