Chromosome-scale reference assembly of New World lupin Lupinus mexicanus

Lupinus mexicanus (Cerv. ex Lag) is a member of the Fabaceae family and one of over 200 species of lupin native to the New World (North and South America). Despite their importance as high-protein legumes, and valuable sources of genetic diversity, these species are much less studied than their Old World counterparts, thereby limiting their widespread adoption as a high-protein legume crop comparable to Glycine max (L.) Merr. Here, we present a chromosome-scale reference assembly for L. mexicanus, a New World lupin species native to central Mexico. The final primary assembly spans 837 Mb, with a scaffold N50 of 36 Mb. Among these scaffolds, 99% of the assembly was anchored onto 24 chromosomes, achieving a chromosome-scale reference assembly. Genome annotation identified 36,575 protein-coding genes. BUSCO completeness analysis produced a completeness score of 98%. This chromosome-scale genome therefore provides an important genomic resource for evolutionary, comparative genomic, and crop improvement studies in L. mexicanus and other New World lupins.