The first reference genome of Ranunculus asiaticus L. reveals a key region related to anthocyanin pigmentation

Persian buttercup (Ranunculus asiaticus L.; 2n=2x=16; estimated genome size: 7.6 Gb) is an ornamental and perennial crop native to Asia Minor and Mediterranean basin. It is marketed both as cut flower or potted plant. In 2019, its production counted for the 0.4% of the total turnover of cut flowers and foliage, with the highest values in Italy (132 million of stems) and 300-350 ha of cultivated area. The large size of the genome as well as its high frequency of repetitive sequences and the high level of heterozygosity has made challenging the assembly of a reference genome sequence based on a short-reads sequencing approach. Thanks to the recent advances in long-reads sequencing (e.g., Oxford Nanopore Technology, ONT), we report on the first version of the R. asiaticus genome assembled and annotated. Furthermore, the previously developed genetic map, based on two F1 mapping populations sharing a common male parent, was aligned with the assembled genome, allowing the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting anthocyanin pigmentation.