Currently, three carnivorous bat species, namely Ia io, Nyctalus lasiopterus, and Nyctalus aviator, are known to actively prey on seasonal migratory birds (hereinafter referred to as “avivorous bats”). However, the absence of reference genomes impedes a thorough comprehension of the molecular adaptations of avivorous bat species. Herein, we present the high-quality chromosome-scale reference genome of N. aviator based on PacBio subreads, DNBSEQ short-reads and Hi-C sequencing data. The genome assembly size of N. aviator is 1.77 Gb, with a scaffold N50 of 102 Mb, of which 99.8% assembly was anchored into 21 pseudo-chromosomes. After masking 635.1 Mb repetitive sequences, a total of 19,412 protein-coding genes were identified, of which 99.3% were functionally annotated. The genome assembly and gene prediction reached 96.1% and 96.1% completeness of Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO), respectively. This chromosome-level reference genome of N. aviator fills a gap in the existing information on the genomes of carnivorous bats, especially avivorous ones, and will be valuable for mechanism of adaptations to dietary niche expansion in bat species.

目前，已知有三种食肉蝙蝠，即Ia io、Nyctalus lasiopterus和Nyctalus aviator，积极捕食季节性候鸟（以下简称“食肉蝙蝠”）。然而，参考基因组的缺乏阻碍了对食肉蝙蝠物种分子适应的彻底理解。在此，我们基于 PacBio subreads、DNBSEQ 短读长和 Hi-C 测序数据提出了N.aviator的高质量染色体规模参考基因组。 N.aviator的基因组组装大小为 1.77 Gb，支架 N50 为 102 Mb，其中 99.8% 的组装锚定到 21 条假染色体上。掩蔽 635.1 Mb 重复序列后，共鉴定出 19,412 个蛋白质编码基因，其中 99.3% 进行了功能注释。基因组组装和基因预测的完整性分别达到Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO)的96.1%和96.1%。飞行员蝙蝠染色体水平的参考基因组填补了现有肉食性蝙蝠，特别是食肉性蝙蝠基因组信息的空白，对于蝙蝠物种饮食生态位扩张的适应机制具有重要价值。