Telomere-to-Telomere genome assembly of the halophytic grass Zoysia macrostachya

Z. macrostachya (ZN3169) was used in this study, collected by the Forest Biomaterials Research Center, National Institute of Forest Science, from Seonyu Island, Gunsan-si, Jeonbuk-do, Republic of Korea.

Zoysia macrostachya Franch. & Sav. is a halophytic perennial grass species in the Poaceae family, commonly found in the coastal regions of Korea, Japan, and East Asia. Z. macrostachya thrives in high-salinity environments, making it an excellent model for studying abiotic stress resilience. In this study, we present a telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome assembly of Z. macrostachya, constructed using Oxford Nanopore long reads, Illumina short reads, and Omni-C sequencing data. The assembly spans 329.78 Mb across 20 chromosomes, with a scaffold N50 of 19.24 Mb, and includes complete telomeric sequences at both ends. The assembly showed 97.8% complete BUSCOs, indicating high genome completeness. Repeat element analysis identified 44.03% of the genome as repetitive sequences, with long terminal repeats (LTRs) being the most abundant (21.09%). Gene annotation revealed 33,474 protein-coding genes, with 97.1% complete BUSCOs and 86.92% functionally characterized based on Swiss-Prot and eggNOG databases. Macrosynteny analysis highlighted highly collinear relationships with related species, providing a foundational understanding of the Z. macrostachya genomic structure. This high-quality genome assembly serves as a valuable resource for advancing salinity tolerance research and improving the genetic diversity of turfgrass species.