J Syst Evol

• Research Article •     Next Articles

Telomere-to-telomere genome and multi-omics analysis provides insights into genomic evolution and nutritional composition of Canavalia gladiata

Yi Wang1, 2, Meng Yan1, 2, Pingli Xie1, 2, Jinyin Xing2, 3, Dongming Fang4, Xianzhi Wang1, Shilai Zhang1, Yujiao Zhang1, Tong Wei1, 2, 4*, Xing Guo1, 2, 4*   

  1. 1School of Agriculture, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China
    2BGI Research, Wuhan 430047, China
    3College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
    4State Key Laboratory of Genome and Multi-omics Technologies, BGI Research, Shenzhen, 518083, China
    *Authors for correspondence. Tong Wei. E-mail: weitong@genomics.cn; Xing Guo. E-mail: guoxing@genomics.cn
  • Received:2026-01-17 Accepted:2026-06-17
  • Supported by:
    This research was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32000171) awarded to X. Guo.

Abstract: Canavalia gladiata (Jacq.) DC. is a leguminous crop notable for its high protein content and oil rich in unsaturated fatty acids, positioning it as a valuable genetic resource for the diversification and nutritional improvement of legume seeds. Here, we reported a gap-free telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome assembly of C. gladiata and performed phylogenomic analyses to reconstruct its evolutionary history. Integrative transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling further revealed the transcriptional regulatory networks underlying the biosynthesis of key nutritional metabolites, including amino acids and lipids. These findings lay a foundation for accelerating molecular breeding for improved nutritional quality in C. gladiata. The T2T assembly and multi-omics resources presented herein serve as valuable references for comparative genomics and the genetic improvement of legume crops.

Key words: Canavalia gladiata, T2T genome, Seed development, Transcriptomics, Metabolomics