ERGA-BGE Reference Genome: Corema album ((L.) D. Don, 1830) - the Portuguese crowberry, endemic to the Iberian Peninsula.

List of Authors

  1. João Pedro Marques ,  
  2. Bruno Nevado
    ,  
  3. Tom Brown ,  
  4. Alessio Iannucci
    ,  
  5. Alice Mouton
    ,  
  6. Ann M Mc Cartney
    ,  
  7. Carla Alegria ,  
  8. Chiara Bortoluzzi ,  
  9. Chiara Natali ,  
  10. Christian de Guttry ,  
  11. Claudio Ciofi
    ,  
  12. Cristina Máguas
    ,  
  13. Diego De Panis
    ,  
  14. Giulio Formenti
    ,  
  15. Joana Jesus ,  
  16. João Jacinto ,  
  17. José Melo-Ferreira ,  
  18. Joseph Kirangwa
    ,  
  19. Judit Salces-Ortiz ,  
  20. M. Judite Alves
    ,  
  21. Marco Morselli
    ,  
  22. Maria Angela Diroma
    ,  
  23. Philipp H. Schiffer ,  
  24. Robert M. Waterhouse
    ,  
  25. Rosa Fernández
    ,  
  26. Sara Vicente
    ,  
  27. Sergio Chozas ,  
  28. Vitor C. Sousa
    ,  
  29. Helena Trindade ,  
  30. Manuela Sim-Sim
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Abstract

Corema album is a perennial, dioecious shrub endemic to the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula and the Azores. It inhabits coastal dune ecosystems from Galicia to the Strait of Gibraltar, where it plays an important ecological role. The goal of this study was to assemble and annotate a chromosome-level reference genome for C. album. The entirety of the genome sequence was assembled into 13 contiguous chromosomal pseudomolecules, one mitochondrial, and one chloroplast genome. This chromosome-level assembly encompasses 548 Mb, composed of 96 contigs and 68 unplaced scaffolds, with contig and scaffold N50 values of 23.7 Mb and 40.9 Mb, respectively. Structural annotation revealed that 51% of the genome of C. album consists of repeats, identified 53,794 genes and encompassed 94.6% of the Viridiplantae BUSCO genes set, confirming a high gene representativeness in the assembly.

Plain Language Summary

Corema album is a small shrub that grows naturally along the Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula and the Azores. It is especially common in sandy coastal dunes, where it plays an important role in maintaining ecosystem stability and supporting local biodiversity. Despite its ecological importance, there is still limited genetic information available for this species.

In this study, we generated a high-quality reference genome for C. album, which can aid scientific discoveries surrounding how the plant grows and functions. Using advanced DNA sequencing technologies, we were able to reconstruct its genetic material and organise it into 13 chromosome-scale sequences. This provides a highly detailed and reliable representation of its genome.

We also annotated almost 54 thousands genes and repeats that constitute a large portion of the genome. The high completeness of this genome means it can serve as a valuable resource for future research.

Overall, this work provides an essential foundation for studying the biology, evolution, and conservation of C. album, particularly in the face of environmental changes affecting coastal ecosystems.

Corresponding author
João Pedro Marques
0000-0001-9834-1361
Grant information

This work is also part of the Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE) project (Grant No. 101059492), funded by Horizon Europe under the Biodiversity, Circular Economy and Environment call (REA.B.3), and co-funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract numbers 22.00173 and 24.00054, and by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Horizon Europe Guarantee Scheme.

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

Copyright
© 2026 João Pedro Marques (Corresponding Author, Co-Author); Bruno Nevado (Co-Author); Tom Brown (Co-Author); Alessio Iannucci (Co-Author); Alice Mouton (Co-Author); Ann M Mc Cartney (Co-Author); Carla Alegria (Co-Author); Chiara Bortoluzzi (Co-Author); Chiara Natali (Co-Author); Christian de Guttry (Co-Author); Claudio Ciofi (Co-Author); Cristina Máguas (Co-Author); Diego De Panis (Co-Author); Giulio Formenti (Co-Author); Joana Jesus (Co-Author); João Jacinto (Co-Author); José Melo-Ferreira (Co-Author); Joseph Kirangwa (Co-Author); Judit Salces-Ortiz (Co-Author); M. Judite Alves (Co-Author); Marco Morselli (Co-Author); Maria Angela Diroma (Co-Author); Philipp H. Schiffer (Co-Author); Robert M. Waterhouse (Co-Author); Rosa Fernández (Co-Author); Sara Vicente (Co-Author); Sergio Chozas (Co-Author); Vitor C. Sousa (Co-Author); Helena Trindade (Co-Author); Manuela Sim-Sim (Co-Author) Creative Commons License

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

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Authors & roles

João Pedro Marques

CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal

BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal

Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Montpellier, 34095, France

Roles
Corresponding Author, Co-Author, Conceptualization, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0001-9834-1361

Bruno Nevado

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Departamento Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Conceptualization, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

Tom Brown

Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, Berlin, 10315, Germany

Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research (BeGenDiv), Koenigin-Luise-Str 6-8, Berlin, 14195, Germany

Roles
Co-Author, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0001-8293-4816

Alessio Iannucci

Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy

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

Alice Mouton

Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy

Laboratoire des Transitions, University of Liege, Place Delcour 17, Liège, 4020, Belgium

Roles
Co-Author, Funding Acquisition, Project Administration, Writing – Review & Editing

Ann M Mc Cartney

Institute of Clinical and Translational Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

Roles
Co-Author, Funding Acquisition, Project Administration, Writing – Review & Editing

Carla Alegria

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

INIAV, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, I.P., Av. da República, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2780-157, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-9461-4569

Chiara Bortoluzzi

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

Roles
Co-Author, Project Administration, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0001-6589-6635

Chiara Natali

Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy

Roles
Co-Author, Formal Analysis, Methodology, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-0293-171X

Christian de Guttry

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

Roles
Co-Author, Project Administration, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-4341-1200

Claudio Ciofi

Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy

Roles
Co-Author, Funding Acquisition, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Cristina Máguas

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Departamento Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

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

Diego De Panis

Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, Berlin, 10315, Germany

Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research (BeGenDiv), Koenigin-Luise-Str 6-8, Berlin, 14195, Germany

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

Giulio Formenti

The Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Ave, New York City, USA

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

Joana Jesus

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-8007-5031

João Jacinto

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

INIAV, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, I.P., Av. da República, Quinta do Marquês, Oeiras, 2780-157, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-7808-4238

José Melo-Ferreira

CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal

BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal

Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, 4169-007, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Project Administration, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0003-4473-1908

Joseph Kirangwa

Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, South Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK

worm~lab/BioC2, Institute for Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Resources

Judit Salces-Ortiz

Metazoa Phylogenomics and Genome Evolution lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, Barcelona, 08003, Spain

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-3572-4020

M. Judite Alves

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

MUHNAC, Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua da Escola Politécnica, 58, Lisboa, 1250-102, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing

Marco Morselli

Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 23/A, Parma, 43124, Italy

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology

Maria Angela Diroma

Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy

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

Philipp H. Schiffer

worm~lab/BioC2, Institute for Zoology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Roles
Co-Author, Funding Acquisition, Project Administration, Resources
0000-0001-6776-0934

Robert M. Waterhouse

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

Roles
Co-Author, Funding Acquisition, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing

Rosa Fernández

Metazoa Phylogenomics and Genome Evolution lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, Barcelona, 08003, Spain

Roles
Co-Author, Funding Acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing

Sara Vicente

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

ERISA—Escola Superior de Saúde Ribeiro Sanches, Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia (IPLUSO), Rua do Telhal aos Olivais nº 8—8a, Lisboa, 1950-396, Portugal

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

Sergio Chozas

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Departamento Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0001-6741-1259

Vitor C. Sousa

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Departamento Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing

Helena Trindade

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Departamento Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0002-1209-2622

Manuela Sim-Sim

CE3C, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Departamento Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

MUHNAC, Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua da Escola Politécnica, 58, Lisboa, 1250-102, Portugal

Roles
Co-Author, Conceptualization, Data Curation, Funding Acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
0000-0003-3467-6538

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