Draft Genome Assembly of the Elite Tunisian Date Palm Cultivar Deglet Nour

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a key crop in the arid regions of North Africa and the Middle East, with substantial socioeconomic value. Although multiple genome assemblies have been generated using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, they primarily focus on Middle Eastern cultivars, leaving North African varieties un-represented. This study aims to address this gap by sequencing and assembling the first genome of a North African date palm using Illumina sequencing technology. We present a draft genome assembly of the elite Tunisian variety Deglet Nour. By comparing it with the Barhee BC4 reference genome, we identified key genetic variants, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertions/deletions (INDELs), potentially associ-ated with ripening processes and fruit quality. This work expands the genomic resources for date palm research, particularly for North African cultivars, and provides new insights into the nucleotide-level variability of genes linked to key agronomic traits.