Chromosome-level genome of the white jade snail reveals conserved genomic architecture and functional divergence relative to wild Achatina fulica

The white jade snail is a farmed strain derived from the globally invasive giant African snail ( Achatina fulica ) and is widely used for food production and experimental applications in China. However, genomic resources for this farmed form remain limited, and its phylogenetic relationship with wild A. fulica and closely related giant African snails requires further clarification. Here, we generate the first chromosome-level genome assembly of the white jade snail by integrating PacBio HiFi reads and Hi-C scaffolding. The final assembly is approximately 1.91 Gb with a scaffold N50 of 63.2 Mb. BUSCO assessment recovered 98.2% complete metazoan single-copy orthologs, and 1.912 Gb (99.92%) of the assembly was anchored onto 31 pseudochromosomes using Hi-C data. Phylogenetic analyses based on single-copy nuclear orthologues and complete mitochondrial genomes supported a closer relationship between the white jade snail and wild A. fulica than with Achatina immaculata . Genome-wide synteny analyses reveal largely conserved chromosomal correspondence between the farmed white jade snail and wild A. fulica , with near one-to-one collinearity across most chromosomes, although several localized structural variations were detected. Comparative gene family and positive selection analyses indicated potential gene-level and pathway-level functional divergence between the farmed white jade snail and wild A. fulica . In the white jade snail, candidate functional shifts were mainly associated with detoxification, molecular transport, metabolism, pigmentation-related processes, whereas wild A. fulica showed enrichment of functions related to environmental responsiveness, signaling, and immune-associated processes. Despite these differences in enrichment patterns, gene families associated with environmental responsiveness and immunity were broadly retained in the white jade snail. This chromosome-level genome provides a valuable resource for comparative genomics and for investigating the candidate genomic basis underlying farming-associated traits in the white jade snail.