Emirati Phased Diploid Trio-Assemblies

This study, conducted under the Emirati Genome Project, aims to build a foundational pangenome reference to enable precision medicine in the United Arab Emirates. We generated phased diploid genome assemblies for 27 Emirati nationals using deep PacBio HiFi sequencing and a trio-based assembly procedure. In total, this produced 54 haplotype-resolved assemblies representing maternal and paternal genomes for each participant. The resulting high-quality reference captures population-specific genetic diversity and will accelerate translational research, variant interpretation, and genome-informed healthcare in the region.

Type: Population Genomics
Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)

3 Datasets

Click on a Dataset ID in the table below to learn more, and to find out who to contact about access to these data

Dataset ID	Description	Technology	Samples
EGAD50000001754	This dataset contains a telomere-to-telomere (T2T), trio-based genome assembly in FASTA format for a single female Emirati individual (proband) generated using parental information for accurate phasing. Sequencing data comprised PacBio HiFi (>60X per parent, >120X offspring), ONT ultra-long reads (>110X offspring), and Illumina short-read WGS (>100X for all three individuals). The offspring genome was assembled in a trio framework and finished with NTLink (initial scaffolding), RagTag (reference-guided refinement), and Quartett (gap filling). The resulting contiguous assembly serves as a high-quality, population-relevant reference suitable for downstream variant discovery and integration into the pangenome.	PromethION unspecified	2
EGAD50000001755	This dataset comprises 27 phased diploid genome assemblies (i.e., 54 haplotypes) from Emirati family trios, provided in FASTA format. Sequencing used PacBio HiFi reads generated on the Revio platform at ≥25× coverage for each parent and offspring. Assemblies were produced with hifiasm (trio mode), then scaffolded with NTLink and reference-guided merging via RagTag against CHM13v2. The collection offers haplotype-resolved references suitable for downstream variant discovery and pangenome analyses.	unspecified	54
EGAD50000001756	This dataset is an Emirati telomere-to-telomere (T2T) pangenome graph in GBZ format built from 116 haplotype-resolved assemblies spanning 58 individuals (28 trio-based and 30 single-sample assemblies). Assemblies were generated with long-read sequencing (PacBio HiFi and ONT ultra-long) with standard polishing, then integrated into a graph representation. The genomes show high contiguity (median ≈150 Mb) and high consensus accuracy (median QV 59). The resulting GBZ graph captures globally shared and Emirati-enriched variation, including sequence in complex regions, and serves as a population-matched reference for downstream variant discovery and annotation.	PromethION unspecified	2