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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.06.23.734100

Assembly of a high-quality reference genome for the rat tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta

Choudhary, S. K.·Sundaresha, N.·Ye, K.·Bergman, C. M.·Rozario, T.
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Abstract

The rat tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta, is an important laboratory model for uncovering molecular processes that underly the success of tapeworms as parasites. Despite its importance, a high-quality reference genome for this species is lacking. Here we present a highly contiguous and effectively complete genome of H. diminuta assembled from PacBio HiFi long-read sequencing data. Our primary assembly consists of 7 scaffolds (N50=29.25 Mb) with total length of 186.53 Mb, has only 7 gaps, and contains 95.7% complete Lophotrochozoan BUSCOs. Our assembly allows us to confirm aspects of Hymenolepis genome organization, such as high repeat content and unusual chromosomal ends, and to show that Hymenolepis genomes encode [~]10,000 genes. Together with annotations of nuclear tRNAs, mtDNA protein coding genes, and mtDNA tRNAs, our assembly currently provides one of the most complete genome resources for a tapeworm species and will enable research on parasitism, animal regeneration, development, and evolution.

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Choudhary, S. K., Sundaresha, N., Ye, K., Bergman, C. M., Rozario, T.. 2026-06-29. Assembly of a high-quality reference genome for the rat tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.06.23.734100

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