Researchers Map Genome of Epiphytic Liverwort
A pseudochromosome-scale genome assembly of Acrolejeunea sandvicensis offers a new resource for studying liverwort evolution.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Life Sciences
Researchers have reported a pseudochromosome-scale genome assembly of Acrolejeunea sandvicensis, a leafy liverwort. The assembly spans 352.633 Mbp and organizes the genome into eight pseudochromosomes using Hi-C chromosome mapping.
Why it matters
The assembly is described as a resource for further research into the evolutionary innovations underpinning epiphytic adaptation and the diversification dynamics of leafy liverworts. Chromosome-scale genomes of bryophytes remain relatively scarce, making this dataset useful for comparative studies.
The genome assembly has a total length of 352.633 Mbp, with 46.66% (164.561 Mbp) consisting of repeat sequences and 332 non-coding RNAs predicted. Its BUSCO completeness score of 91.8% against the bryophyte_odb10 dataset indicates high gene-space coverage, though the extraction does not report what functional roles the unannotated genes may play.
The details
The genome was assembled using a combination of Illumina, PacBio CCS, and Hi-C sequencing technologies. Hi-C chromosome mapping produced eight pseudochromosomes, and the assembly incorporates 1,897 contigs.
Timeline
Article published early as accepted peer-reviewed research on November 7, 2026.
The Big Picture
Hi-C-based pseudochromosome assemblies have become a standard route to chromosome-scale genomes, and this liverwort assembly extends that approach to a bryophyte lineage that has been less extensively sequenced at this level. The resulting eight-chromosome structure gives comparative genomicists a fixed scaffold for studying how leafy liverworts diversified.
For readers following plant biology, the assembly offers a reference genome that researchers can use to compare gene families across liverworts and other land plants. The practical benefit is currently limited to laboratories conducting bryophyte genomics, as no applied products or clinical uses are described.
The takeaway
Chromosome-scale genomes for non-model plant lineages such as liverworts are becoming accessible with combined short-read, long-read, and Hi-C data. Readers interested in land plant evolution can use such assemblies as baselines for future comparative work.
Further reading
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Source note: This article includes information reported by Nature.
