ERGA-BGE reference genome of Carlina diae, an endemic spineless thistle of Crete, Greece

List of Authors

  1. Eleftheria Antaloudaki
    ,  
  2. Danae Karakasi
    ,  
  3. Manos Stratakis ,  
  4. Eleftherios Bitzilekis ,  
  5. Petros Lymberakis ,  
  6. Nikolaos Poulakakis
    ,  
  7. Tereza Manousaki
    ,  
  8. Astrid Böhne ,  
  9. Rita Monteiro ,  
  10. Rosa Fernández
    ,  
  11. Nuria Escudero
    ,  
  12. Genomescope Sequencing Team
    ,  
  13. Alice Moussy ,  
  14. Corinne Cruaud
    ,  
  15. Karine Labadie
    ,  
  16. Lola Demirdjian ,  
  17. Patrick Wincker
    ,  
  18. Pedro H. Oliveira ,  
  19. Jean-Marc Aury
    ,  
  20. Fergal Martin
    ,  
  21. Vianey Paola Barrera Enriquez
    ,  
  22. Leanne Haggerty ,  
  23. Chiara Bortoluzzi
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Abstract

Carlina diae ( Asteraceae) is a rare Cretan endemic plant confined to limestone cliff crevices in four locations of eastern Crete, as well as Dia and the Dionysades islets. It is the only species of the Carlina genus lacking spiny structures, a trait that, together with its placement in the ancestral subgenus Lyrolepis, highlights its significance as a Tertiary relict and a representative of an ancient evolutionary lineage. Fewer than 1,000 mature individuals persist in fragmented subpopulations, each typically numbering fewer than 250 plants, all within Natura 2000 sites, which are protected areas covering Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. The species is currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Despite its restricted range, C. diae contributes substantially to ecosystem functioning. It can stabilize shallow soils on rocky slopes and support the integrity of fragile montane habitats. Flowering during the dry summer months, its capitula provides critical nectar and pollen resources for pollinators, including solitary bees, thereby sustaining biodiversity during periods of resource scarcity. Unlike several species of the Asteraceae family with ornamental value, C. diae is not cultivated and is poorly represented in ex-situ collections, underscoring the urgency of conservation measures. Genomic studies, including full genome annotation, are expected to play a pivotal role in safeguarding its genetic diversity, informing effective management strategies, and improving understanding of its unique evolutionary history. The entirety of the genome sequence was assembled into 10 contiguous chromosomal pseudomolecules, 2 mitochondrial genomes, and one plastid genome. This chromosome-level assembly encompasses 4.2 Gb, composed of 456 contigs and 102 scaffolds, with contig and scaffold N50 values of 23.5 Mb and 416.6 Mb, respectively.

Corresponding author
Chiara Bortoluzzi
0000-0001-6589-6635
Grant information

Biodiversity Genomics Europe (Grant no. 101059492) is funded by Horizon Europe under the Biodiversity, Circular Economy and Environment call (REA.B.3); co-funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract numbers 22.00173 and 24.00054; and by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Horizon Europe Guarantee Scheme. This work was supported by the Genoscope, the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA), France Génomique (ANR-10-INBS-09-08) and the exploratory research programme “ATLASea: Atlas of marine genomes” and its targeted project SEQ-Sea (ANR-22-EXAT-0003-SEQ-Sea).

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Copyright
© 2026 Eleftheria Antaloudaki (Co-Author); Danae Karakasi (Co-Author); Manos Stratakis (Co-Author); Eleftherios Bitzilekis (Co-Author); Petros Lymberakis (Co-Author); Nikolaos Poulakakis (Co-Author); Tereza Manousaki (Co-Author); Astrid Böhne (Co-Author); Rita Monteiro (Co-Author); Rosa Fernández (Co-Author); Nuria Escudero (Co-Author); Genomescope Sequencing Team (Co-Author); Alice Moussy (Co-Author); Corinne Cruaud (Co-Author); Karine Labadie (Co-Author); Lola Demirdjian (Co-Author); Patrick Wincker (Co-Author); Pedro H. Oliveira (Co-Author); Jean-Marc Aury (Co-Author); Fergal Martin (Co-Author); Vianey Paola Barrera Enriquez (Co-Author); Leanne Haggerty (Co-Author); Chiara Bortoluzzi (Corresponding Author, Co-Author) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Authors & roles

Eleftheria Antaloudaki

Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, Knossos Avenue, University of Crete, Heraklion, GR-71409, Greece

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Resources, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

Danae Karakasi

Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, Knossos Avenue, University of Crete, Heraklion, GR-71409, Greece

Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Engineering, Vassilika Vouton, University of Crete, Heraklion, GR-70013, Greece

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Resources, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

Manos Stratakis

Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, Knossos Avenue, University of Crete, Heraklion, GR-71409, Greece

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-6291-9245

Eleftherios Bitzilekis

Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, Knossos Avenue, University of Crete, Heraklion, GR-71409, Greece

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing
0009-0004-5434-0550

Petros Lymberakis

Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, Knossos Avenue, University of Crete, Heraklion, GR-71409, Greece

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-5067-9600

Nikolaos Poulakakis

Natural History Museum of Crete, School of Sciences and Engineering, Knossos Avenue, University of Crete, Heraklion, GR-71409, Greece

Department of Biology, School of Sciences and Engineering, Vassilika Vouton, University of Crete, Heraklion, GR-70013, Greece

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Tereza Manousaki

Institute of Marine Biology Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, 70014, Greece

Roles
Co-Author, Methodology, Project Administration, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Astrid Böhne

Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Adenauerallee 127, Museum Koenig Bonn, Bonn, 53113, Germany

Roles
Co-Author, Methodology, Project Administration, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-1284-3115

Rita Monteiro

Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Adenauerallee 127, Museum Koenig Bonn, Bonn, 53113, Germany

Roles
Co-Author, Methodology, Project Administration, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0003-1374-4474

Rosa Fernández

Metazoa Phylogenomics Lab, Passeig marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, Institute for Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF)., Barcelona, 08003, Spain

Roles
Co-Author, Methodology, Project Administration, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Nuria Escudero

Metazoa Phylogenomics Lab, Passeig marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, Institute for Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF)., Barcelona, 08003, Spain

Roles
Co-Author, Methodology, Project Administration, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Genomescope Sequencing Team

Roles
Co-Author

Alice Moussy

Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing
0009-0006-3405-7074

Corinne Cruaud

Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Karine Labadie

Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Lola Demirdjian

Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France

Roles
Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing
0009-0009-9164-3311

Patrick Wincker

Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Pedro H. Oliveira

Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0003-3161-8367

Jean-Marc Aury

Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, 91057, France

Roles
Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Fergal Martin

European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK

Roles
Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing

Vianey Paola Barrera Enriquez

European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK

Roles
Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing

Leanne Haggerty

European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, UK

Roles
Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0001-8843-3596

Chiara Bortoluzzi

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Amphipôle, Quartier UNIL-Sorge, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

Roles
Corresponding Author, Co-Author, Visualization, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0001-6589-6635

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