Chromosome-scale genome assembly of the Goethe’s palm (Chamaerops humilis L.)

Chamaerops humilis L., also known as dwarf palm, is a species of palm belonging to the Arecaeae. A specimen of this species - the so-called Goethe’s palm - is kept at the Botanical Garden of Padua, famous for having inspired the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in drafting his treatise “Essay on the metamorphoses of plants”, published in 1890. Chamaerops humilis is the only species of Arecaeae to have survived the glaciations that affected Europe 12,000 years ago, as well as the only one able to effectively colonize the northernmost latitudes. In this project we have obtained an almost chromosomal-level assembly of C. humilis genome. This information will allow to investigate not only the evolutionary origins of this plant and its phylogenetic relationships, but also the genetics underlying the mechanisms that allowed it to expand towards higher latitudes. The Hi-C contact map will provide fundamental information about genome architecture, three-dimensional chromatin organization and gene interactions. Moreover, being a species that is also of considerable interest in the biomedical field, the information stored in its genome can be investigated to explore the potential of this plant in the treatment of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.