Assembly of Genome and Resequencing Provide Insights into Genetic Differentiation between Parents of Hulong Hybrid Grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus ♀ × E. lanceolatus ♂)

The Hulong hybrid grouper was bred from the brown-marbled (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) ♀ and giant (E. lanceolatus) ♂, combining advantageous traits of both parents. Possessing an excellent performance, this hybrid’s cultivation promotes development industry. Its male parent, grouper, possesses fastest growth largest body size among all coral-reef-dwelling fish. This species is not only economically important in marine aquaculture, but it also ideal parent interspecific crossing species. In present study, a high-quality chromosome-level genome constructed with total length 1.06 Gb, consisting 24 chromosomes 69 scaffolds. To analyze genetic differences between parents structural variations (SVs) parental genomes were detected, 46,643 SVs obtained. High-quality SNPs identified resequencing data. There significant two genomes, average FST reached 0.685. A 234 highly differentiated regions detected > 0.9. protein-coding genes involved significantly enriched metabolic pathways, including fatty metabolism, carbohydrate amino acid metabolism TCA cycle. These may be related to feeding preferences ability digest carbohydrates under natural conditions. addition, cell cycle p53-signaling pathway detected. play roles regulation performance. research provides genomic resources for further breeding works evolutionary analyses.