A chromosome-level genome assembly of the Leschenault’s rousette (Rousettus leschenaultii)

Abstract The Leschenault’s rousette (Rousettus leschenaultii) represents a medium-sized bat of the genus Rousettus that feeds on fruits or flowers, mainly distributed in Southeast Asia. Here, we generated a chromosome-level genome assembly of R. leschenaultii using a hybrid MGI and PacBio sequencing approach, facilitated by the chromosome assignment using the high-throughput chromatin conformation capture (Hi-C) sequencing technology. The genome size was 1.95 Gb with a scaffold N50 of 116.99 Mb, and 99.00% of the assembled sequences were anchored to 17 autosomes and the two sex chromosomes (X and Y). The completeness of the assembly was estimated to be 96.4% using BUSCO. In total, 19,625 genes were predicted from this genome assembly, with 97.83% of them being functionally annotated. This high-quality assembly of R. leschenaultii serves as a valuable genetic resource for exploring the genomic basis of evolutionary adaptation, and for conducting population, ecological, and conservation genomic studies.