A telomere-to-telomere gap-free genome assembly of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.)

Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.), a globally cultivated temperate fruit crop, represents an economically critical species for fresh consumption and value-added products. Despite its agricultural importance, genomic resources have lagged behind other Prunus species, hampering trait dissection and molecular breeding. Here, we present the first telomere-to-telomere (T2T) gap-free genome assembly for the elite cultivar 'Sungold', achieved through the integration of multi-platform sequencing technologies: Illumina short-read, PacBio HiFi, ONT ultra-long, and Hi-C scaffolding. The final assembly spans 251.36 Mb with benchmark quality metrics: a contig N50 of 32.04 Mb, BUSCO completeness score of 98.8%, LTR Assembly Index (LAI) of 15.99, and a consensus quality value (QV) of 59.75. The T2T assembly achieved the resolution of all eight centromeres, together with fourteen intact telomeres, confirming its high structural integrity. Genomic annotation revealed 43.38% of repetitive sequences and 25,999 predicted protein-coding genes. This gap-free T2T genome resource establishes the highest-resolution reference for investigating apricot genome evolution, structural variation, and trait-associated genetic mechanisms in modern breeding programs.