{"doi":"10.1093/gigascience/giaf044","title":"The haplotype-resolved T2T genome for <i>Bauhinia × blakeana</i> sheds light on the genetic basis of flower heterosis","abstract":"<h4>Background</h4>The Hong Kong orchid tree Bauhinia × blakeana Dunn has long been proposed to be a sterile interspecific hybrid exhibiting flower heterosis when compared to its likely parental species, Bauhinia purpurea L. and Bauhinia variegata L. Here, we report comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses of the 3 Bauhinia species.<h4>Findings</h4>We generated chromosome-level assemblies for the parental species and applied a trio-binning approach to construct a haplotype-resolved telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genome for B. blakeana. Comparative chloroplast genome analysis confirmed B. purpurea as the maternal parent. Transcriptome profiling of flower tissues highlighted a closer resemblance of B. blakeana to its maternal parent. Differential gene expression analyses revealed distinct expression patterns among the 3 species, particularly in biosynthetic and metabolic processes. To investigate the genetic basis of flower heterosis observed in B. blakeana, we focused on gene expression patterns within pigment biosynthesis-related pathways. High-parent dominance and overdominance expression patterns were observed, particularly in genes associated with carotenoid biosynthesis. Additionally, allele-specific expression analysis revealed a balanced contribution of maternal and paternal alleles in shaping the gene expression patterns in B. blakeana.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our study offers valuable insights into the genome architecture of hybrid B. blakeana, establishing a comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic resource for future functional genetics research within the Bauhinia genus. It also serves as a model for exploring the characteristics of hybrid species using T2T haplotype-resolved genomes, providing a novel approach to understanding genetic interactions and evolutionary mechanisms in complex genomes with high heterozygosity.","journal":"GigaScience","year":2025,"id":7167,"datarank":0.16479184330021646,"base_score":1.0986122886681096,"endowment":1.0986122886681096,"self_citation_contribution":0.16479184330021646,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.16479184330021646,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.337,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":64811,"name":"Joshua Casey Darian","orcid":"0000-0002-3151-3920","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":19927,"name":"Wing‐Kin Sung","orcid":"0000-0001-7806-7086","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":15727,"name":"Xing Guo","orcid":"0000-0003-2046-9773","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64812,"name":"Tuo Yang","orcid":"0000-0002-2147-2475","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64813,"name":"Mandy Wai Man Tang","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64814,"name":"Ziqiang Chen","orcid":"0000-0002-7490-6273","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64815,"name":"Steve Kwan Hok Tong","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64816,"name":"Irene Wing Shan Chik","orcid":null,"position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64817,"name":"Robert L Davidson","orcid":"0000-0002-0311-9774","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":46,"name":"Scott C. Edmunds","orcid":"0000-0001-6444-1436","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64818,"name":"Tong Wei","orcid":"0000-0002-2692-7192","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64819,"name":"Stephen Kwok-Wing Tsui","orcid":"0000-0003-0686-4259","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64820,"name":"Mandy Tang","orcid":null,"position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64821,"name":"Steven Y. C. Tong","orcid":"0000-0002-1368-8356","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":64810,"name":"Weixue Mu","orcid":"0000-0002-2675-261X","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":105,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-03-01T18:20:47.508186Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}