Jeanine L. Olsen

Abstract We present chromosome-level genome assemblies from representative species of three independently evolved seagrass lineages: Posidonia oceanica, Cymodocea nodosa, Thalassia testudinum and Zostera marina. We also include a draft genome of Potamogeton acutifolius, belonging to a freshwater sister lineage to Zosteraceae. All seagrass species share an ancient whole-genome triplication, while additional whole-genome duplications were uncovered for C. nodosa, Z. marina and P. acutifolius.

Correction to: Nature Plants https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-023-01464-3. Published online 20 July 2023. In the version of the article initially published, Yves Van de Peer’s name appeared incorrectly as Yves Van De Peer. In addition, two of Yves Van de Peer’s affiliations were wrongly combined into a single affiliation.

Study species and sampling design Eelgrass (Z. marina L.) is the most widespread seagrass species of the temperate to Arctic Northern Hemisphere3. It is being developed as a model for studying seagrass evolution and genomics17,19,21,49. Z. marina is a foundation species of shallow water ecosystems17 with a number of critical ecological functions including enhancement of fish and crustacean recruitment50, improvement of water quality51 and the sequestration of ‘blue carbon’52,53.