Version 6 of the Chlamydomonas reference genome is released!

We are pleased to announce the sixth version of the Chlamydomonas reference genome. Based on PacBio long-read sequencing, the first update in 10 years sees major improvements in assembly quality and structural annotations. Expert functional annotations have also been extensively updated, with particular focus on gene symbols.

This release sees a departure from the cell wall-less classical reference strain CC-503, the genome of which was found to be highly unstable. Version 6 is based on the mt– laboratory strain CC-4532, although an MT+ contig is included, together with assemblies of the plastome and mitogenome.

We are committed to the future improvement of this key resource and welcome suggestions for new or corrected gene models and metadata (gene symbols, textual annotation, associated PMIDs, etc.). Any suggestions can be sent to chlamy.updates@gmail.com.

The genome and annotations can be accessed from Phytozome (https://phytozome-next.jgi.doe.gov/geneatlas/info/CreinhardtiiCC_4532_v6_1) and detailed information is available in a dedicated preprint (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.16.496473v1).