PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Isaac Njaci
AU  - Bernice Waweru
AU  - Nadia Kamal
AU  - Meki Shehabu Muktar
AU  - David Fisher
AU  - Heidrun Gundlach
AU  - Collins Muli
AU  - Lucy Muthui
AU  - Mary Maranga
AU  - Davies Kiambi
AU  - Brigitte L Maass
AU  - Peter MF Emmrich
AU  - Jean-Baka Domelevo Entfellner
AU  - Manuel Spannagl
AU  - Mark A Chapman
AU  - Oluwaseyi Shorinola
AU  - Chris S Jones
TI  - Chromosome-scale assembly of the lablab genome - A model for inclusive orphan crop genomics
AID  - 10.1101/2022.05.08.491073
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2022.05.08.491073
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/05/21/2022.05.08.491073.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/05/21/2022.05.08.491073.full
AB  - Orphan crops (also described as underutilised and neglected crops) hold the key to diversified and climate-resilient food systems. After decades of neglect, the genome sequencing of orphan crops is gathering pace, providing the foundations for their accelerated domestication and improvement. Recent attention has however turned to the gross under-representation of researchers in Africa in the genome sequencing efforts of their indigenous orphan crops. Here we report a radically inclusive approach to orphan crop genomics using the case of Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet (syn. Dolichos lablab, or hyacinth bean) – a legume native to Africa and cultivated throughout the tropics for food and forage. Our Africa-led South-North plant genome collaboration produced a high-quality chromosomescale assembly of the lablab genome – the first chromosome-scale plant genome assembly locally sequenced in Africa. We also re-sequenced cultivated and wild accessions of lablab from Africa confirming two domestication events and examined the genetic diversity in lablab germplasm conserved in Africa. Our approach provides a valuable resource for lablab improvement and also presents a model that could be explored by other researchers sequencing indigenous crops particularly from Low and middle income countries (LMIC).Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.