Staphylococcus aureus infections range in severity due to mobile genetic elements (MGE) and single nucleotide polymorphisms. The understanding of the evolution of these dangerous pathogens requires the definition of reference strains. Richard W Davis and colleagues published a method to construct and validate the assembly of the 2.82Mb S. aureus genomes. Authors used a previously uncharacterized strain isolated from a patient with impetigo in 1947, named Tager 104, and prepared long DNA fragments with the Megaruptor®. They bridged confounding gap regions through integration of data from Illumina Nextera paired-end, PacBio RS, and Lucigen NxSeq mate-pair libraries. Furthermore, they provided independent confirmation of their arrangement of the Tager 104 genome by the sole use of Lucigen NxSeq libraries filled by paired-end MiSeq reads and alignment with SPAdes software. They found that Tager 104 represents an early-branching ancestor of certain hospital-acquired strains.