Long-read sequencing and comparative genome analyses of seven Emergomyces type-strains

Emergomyces ( Ajellomycetaceae , Onygenales ) is a genus of dimorphic fungal pathogens that cause severe, opportunistic infections around the world. We used long-read nanopore sequencing to generate de novo genome assemblies followed by comparative analyses for the type-strains of Emergomyces africanus, Emergomyces canadensis, Emergomyces crescens, Emergomyces europaeus, Emergomyces orientalis , Emergomyces pasteurianus , and Emergomyces soli . The average Emergomyces genome was found to be 32,965,087bp in size (range 28,687,700–35,863,369bp) with GC%-contents of 42.01–45.72%. Average Nucleotide Identity analysis of the seven type-strain genomes with the publicly available Emergomyces and Blastomyces genomes was performed, showing values of 85–100% similarity between genomes and 85–91% between the twelve species tested. Furthermore, we formally validate the species descriptions for Emergomyces crescens and Emergomyces soli .