The first high-quality complete genome assembly of Cycas panzhihuaensis was published in Nature as a cover paper on April 18, 2022. This work was led by Shenzhen BGI-research with the participation of other research institutes.

In general, the seed plants are divided into gymnosperms and gymnosperms. The genome of gymnosperms is large and complex, with high repeat content. Cycas was the last lineage for which a high-quality genome assembly was lacking, among the four extant gymnosperm groups (cycads, Ginkgo, conifers and gnetophytes), This complete genome assembly of Cycas panzhihuaensis closes an important gap in our understanding of genome structure and evolution in seed plants.

China National GeneBank (CNGB) provides technical support for this project. The corresponding data of the project, including genome, Hi-C, and transcriptome data were deposited on CNGB (Project ID: CNP0001756). Additionally, these data are also available on CODEPLOT, which enables user to efficiently analyse the Cycas panzhihuaensis data with online CODEPLOT tools.