words) 6High quality reference genome sequences are the core of modern genomics. Oxford Nanopore 7Technologies (ONT) produces inexpensive DNA sequences in excess of 100,000 nucleotides but 8 error rates remain >10% and assembling these sequences, particularly for eukaryotes, is a non-9 trivial problem. To date there has been no comprehensive attempt to generate experimental 10 design for ONT genome sequencing and assembly. Here, we simulate ONT and Illumina DNA 11 sequence reads for Escherichia coli, Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, and 12 Drosophila melanogaster. We quantify the influence of sequencing coverage, assembly software 13 and experimental design on de novo genome assembly and error correction to predict the 14 optimum sequencing strategy for these organisms. We show proof of concept using real ONT 15 data generated for the nematode Caenorhabditis remanei. ONT sequencing is inexpensive and 16 accessible, and our quantitative results will be helpful for a broad array of researchers seeking 17 guidance for de novo genome assembly projects.