Colora: a Snakemake workflow for complete chromosome-scale de novo genome assembly

Abstract Motivation De novo assembly creates reference genomes that underpin many modern biodiversity and conservation studies. Large numbers of new genomes are being assembled by labs around the world. To avoid duplication of efforts and variable data quality, we desire a best-practice assembly process, implemented as an automated portable workflow. Results Here, we present Colora, a Snakemake workflow that produces chromosome-scale de novo primary or phased genome assemblies complete with organelles using Pacific Biosciences HiFi, Hi-C, and optionally Oxford Nanopore Technologies reads as input. Colora is a user-friendly, versatile, and reproducible pipeline that is ready to use by researchers looking for an automated way to obtain high-quality de novo genome assemblies. Availability and implementation The source code of Colora is available on GitHub (https://github.com/LiaOb21/colora) and has been deposited in Zenodo under DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13321576. Colora is also available at the Snakemake Workflow Catalog (https://snakemake.github.io/snakemake-workflow-catalog/? usage=LiaOb21%2Fcolora).