Introduction
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a keystone perennial crop of arid and semi-arid regions, supporting oasis agroecosystems and rural livelihoods under extreme environmental conditions. The Moroccan cultivar ‘Mejhoul’ (also known as ‘Medjool’) is globally prized for its large, tender, fleshy, elongated fruits, high sugar content, and high yield potential, as well as for its tolerance to drought and moderate salinity. Despite its agronomic and economic importance, the genomic basis of its key traits remains poorly characterized, limiting functional studies and crop improvement. Here, we present the first whole-genome sequence of ‘Mejhoul’, providing a high-quality reference genome for this variety. This resource establishes a foundation for trait-driven functional genomics, comparative analyses across cultivars, and molecular breeding strategies aimed at enhancing fruit quality, stress resilience, and productivity in climate-constrained environments.
Methods
Leaf tissue from a single live cultivated individual was used for genome sequencing in this study. DNA extraction was performed using the Qiagen DNEasy genomic extraction kit using the standard process. Paired-end sequencing libraries were constructed using the Illumina TruSeq kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The libraries were sequenced on an Illumina Hi-Seq platform in paired-end, 2 × 150bp format. The resulting fastq files were trimmed of adapter/primer sequences and low-quality regions with Trimmomatic v0.33 (Bolger et al. 2014). The trimmed sequence was assembled by SPAdes v3.15.4 (Bankevich et al. 2012) followed by a finishing step using Zanfona (Kieras et al. 2021).
Results and Data Availability
The genome assembly size was 486 MB with 44,654 scaffolds/contigs, and 34.9% GC.
taxname
Phoenix dactylifera
accession
JBTXPJ000000000
Funding
Funding was provided by Iridian Genomes, grant# IRGEN_RG_2021-1345 Genomic Studies of Eukaryotic Taxa.