Background: The redlip mullet, also known as Liza haematocheila is an economically important fish species in Korea and East Asia. Due to many disease outbreaks, there is considerable profit loss during production. Therefore, improve the understanding and kn owledge of the redlip mullet genome structure will provide important data towards the increasing the production and help to elucidate their mechanisms of stress and host defense.
Findings: In this study, we constructed the redlip mullet draft genome. The total genome size was estimated to be 700 Mb and, using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 System and PacBio Sequel System sequencing data, the genome was annotated as 747 Mb. Hybrid assembly of mullet genome sequences comprised 1,453 contigs, with 3.9 Mb contig N50 value. Final gene models predicted 28,919 transcripts (21,796 genes), of which 20,310 genes showed gene ontology terms (70.23%), with 10,053 biological functions, 24,091 cellular components, and 14,180 molecular functions. The quality and completeness of the draft genome were assessed with Benchmarking Universal Single Copy Orthologs v. 2.0 and Core Eukaryotic Genes Mapping Approach v. 2.5, which resulted in 89.2% similarity to Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and 248 core eukaryotic genes. Ortholog analysis resulted in 8,280 core genes, with 444 genes unique to L. haematocheila .
Conclusion: We built a first draft genome for L. haematocheila (Family: Mugilidae) using a hybrid approach. The genome can be used as a genomic reference for the discovery of genetic features and the advancement of marine science.