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A Haplotype-resolved Telomere-to-Telomere Pig Genome

Zhao, C.; Zhang, Z.; Lin, Z.; Li, J.; Shi, W.; Wu, Y.; Shi, M.; Kong, T.; Wang, B.; Shi, B.; Wang, X.; Xiang, J.; Xu, C.; Fu, Y.; Ming, J.; Qin, Y.; Kuang, J.; Wang, H.; Yao, Y.; Wang, B.; Pei, D.

2026-04-06 genomics
10.64898/2026.04.02.716236 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Haplotype-resolved telomere-to-telomere (T2T) pig genomes have not been reported, but may be essential for xenotransplantation and interspecies chimerism. Here we describe fully phased paternal and maternal T2T assemblies of an Erhualian pig (Ssc_EHL), enabling chromosome-scale reconstruction at base resolution. We uncover 2,498 (paternal haplotype) and 2,577 (maternal haplotype) protein-coding loci previously unresolved in Sscrofa11.1, while maintaining high concordance for anchored gene models between haplotypes. Applying this haplotype-resolved T2T annotation to publicly available pig-to-human kidney xenograft transcriptomes further allows the resolution of xenograft cell states and reveals newly resolved, cell-type-enriched genes. Cross-species synteny and orthology analyses against human identified a subset of high-confidence pig-specific genes with limited human counterparts, thus, refining the genomic basis of interspecies divergence. By integrating these orthology features with organ transcriptomes, we further defined an Interspecies Chimerism Compatibility score to prioritize organ-enriched, highly conserved loci with minimal redundancy imbalance, providing haplotype consistent targets for engineering organ-deficient pigs. Together, this haplotype-resolved T2T pig genome provides a foundational resource for mechanistic studies and rational genome engineering in xenotransplantation and interspecies chimerism.

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