The genome and transcriptome analysis of snake gourd provide insights into its evolution and fruit development and ripening

Abstract

Snake gourd (Trichosanthes anguina L.), which belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, is a popular ornamental and food crop species with medicinal value and is grown in many parts of the world. Although progress has been made in its genetic improvement, the organization, composition, and evolution of the snake gourd genome remain largely unknown. Here, we report a high-quality genome assembly for snake gourd, comprising 202 contigs, with a total size of 919.8 Mb and an N50 size of 20.1 Mb. These findings indicate that snake gourd has one of the largest genomes of Cucurbitaceae species sequenced to date. The snake gourd genome assembly harbors 22,874 protein-coding genes and 80.0% of the genome consists of repetitive sequences. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that snake gourd is closely related to sponge gourd but diverged from their common ancestor ~33–47 million years ago. The genome sequence reported here serves as a valuable resource for snake gourd genetic research and comparative genomic studies in Cucurbitaceae and other plant species. In addition, fruit transcriptome analysis reveals the candidate genes related to quality traits during snake gourd fruit development and provides a basis for future research on snake gourd fruit development and ripening at the transcript level.