High-quality genome assembly of a Pestalotiopsis fungus using DIY-friendly methods

Of the millions of fungal species estimated to exist, about 100,000 have been identified, and only approximately 3000 of those have representative genome assemblies available. Here, we isolated a wild species of Pestalotiopsis from the Los Angeles area, extracted DNA in a low-cost environment (e.g., home lab), and generated a high-quality genome assembly using the low-cost Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencing platform. We found that Pestalotiopsis has a genome composed of 7 nuclear chromosomes, comprising 47.7 megabases. Using this genome, we perform a multi-locus phylogenetic analysis and finally, we discuss how this project (costing $300) demonstrates the increased accessibility of whole genome sequencing.