De novo assembly of the <i>Aedes aegypti</i> genome using Hi-C yields chromosome-length scaffolds

TLDR

The assembly builds on a 2007 Aedes aegypti genome that was improved in 2013. The study presents an end‑to‑end genome assembly of a female Aedes aegypti mosquito, a vector of yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. The assembly was generated end‑to‑end and used to examine chromosome‑level conservation between Aedes aegypti and related species. The new assembly achieves a scaffold N50 of 419 Mb, anchors 96.9 % of ungapped sequence to chromosomes, and shows strong synteny with An.

Abstract

We present an end-to-end genome assembly of a female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads viral diseases such as yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika to humans. The assembly is based on an earlier genome published in 2007 and improved in 2013. The new assembly has a scaffold N50 of 419Mb, with 96.9% of the ungapped sequence anchored to chromosomes. We used the new assembly to examine the conservation of A. aegypti chromosomes. Our results suggest that synteny is strongly conserved between Ae. aegypti and An. gambiae. Comparison to D. melanogaster highlights the extent to which the identity of entire chromosome arms is preserved across dipterans.