diff --git a/pybedtools/bedtool.py b/pybedtools/bedtool.py
index 1b8b491d..96ada4b0 100644
--- a/pybedtools/bedtool.py
+++ b/pybedtools/bedtool.py
@@ -700,7 +700,11 @@ def tabix_intervals(self, interval_or_string, check_coordinates=False):
         # tabix expects 1-based coords, but BEDTools works with
         # zero-based. pybedtools and pysam also work with zero-based. So we can
         # pass zero-based directly to the pysam tabix interface.
-        tbx = pysam.TabixFile(self.fn)
+        try:
+            tbx = pysam.TabixFile(self.fn)
+        except OSError:
+            # if the file is indexed using csi, we need to specify the path for index
+            tbx = pysam.TabixFile(self.fn, index=self.fn+".csi")
 
         # If an interval is passed, use its coordinates directly
         if isinstance(interval_or_string, Interval):
@@ -749,10 +753,14 @@ def tabix_contigs(self):
                 "-- please use the .tabix() method"
             )
 
-        tbx = pysam.TabixFile(self.fn)
+        try:
+            tbx = pysam.TabixFile(self.fn)
+        except OSError:
+            # if the file is indexed using csi, we need to specify the path for index
+            tbx = pysam.TabixFile(self.fn, index=self.fn+".csi")
         return tbx.contigs
 
-    def tabix(self, in_place=True, force=False, is_sorted=False):
+    def tabix(self, in_place=True, force=False, is_sorted=False, use_csi=False):
         """
         Prepare a BedTool for use with Tabix.
 
@@ -773,6 +781,10 @@ def tabix(self, in_place=True, force=False, is_sorted=False):
         is_sorted : bool
             If True (default is False), then assume the file is already sorted
             so that BedTool.bgzip() doesn't have to do that work.
+
+        use_csi : bool
+            If True (default is False), then generate a csi instead of tbi index.
+            This can be useful when working with chromosomes larger than 512 Mbp, such as barley
         """
         # Return quickly if nothing to do
         if self._tabixed() and not force:
@@ -781,18 +793,18 @@ def tabix(self, in_place=True, force=False, is_sorted=False):
         # Make sure it's BGZIPed
         fn = self.bgzip(in_place=in_place, force=force)
 
-        pysam.tabix_index(fn, force=force, preset=self.file_type)
+        pysam.tabix_index(fn, force=force, preset=self.file_type, csi=use_csi)
         return BedTool(fn)
 
     def _tabixed(self):
         """
         Verifies that we're working with a tabixed file: a string filename
-        pointing to a BGZIPed file with a .tbi file in the same dir.
+        pointing to a BGZIPed file with a .tbi or .csi file in the same dir.
         """
         if (
             isinstance(self.fn, str)
             and isBGZIP(self.fn)
-            and os.path.exists(self.fn + ".tbi")
+            and (os.path.exists(self.fn + ".tbi") or os.path.exists(self.fn + ".csi"))
         ):
             return True
 
diff --git a/pybedtools/test/test_1.py b/pybedtools/test/test_1.py
index b9d67fe5..20a68393 100644
--- a/pybedtools/test/test_1.py
+++ b/pybedtools/test/test_1.py
@@ -133,35 +133,36 @@ def test_tuple_creation():
 
 
 def test_tabix():
-    try:
-        a = pybedtools.example_bedtool("a.bed")
-        t = a.tabix(force=True)
-        assert t._tabixed()
-        results = t.tabix_intervals("chr1:99-200")
-        results = str(results)
-        print(results)
-        assert results == fix(
-            """
-        chr1	1	100	feature1	0	+
-        chr1	100	200	feature2	0	+
-        chr1	150	500	feature3	0	-"""
-        )
+    for idx_type in ("tbi", "csi"):
+        try:
+            a = pybedtools.example_bedtool("a.bed")
+            t = a.tabix(force=True, use_csi=True if idx_type == "csi" else False)
+            assert t._tabixed()
+            results = t.tabix_intervals("chr1:99-200")
+            results = str(results)
+            print(results)
+            assert results == fix(
+                """
+            chr1	1	100	feature1	0	+
+            chr1	100	200	feature2	0	+
+            chr1	150	500	feature3	0	-"""
+            )
 
-        assert str(t.tabix_intervals(a[2])) == fix(
-            """
-        chr1	100	200	feature2	0	+
-        chr1	150	500	feature3	0	-"""
-        )
+            assert str(t.tabix_intervals(a[2])) == fix(
+                """
+            chr1	100	200	feature2	0	+
+            chr1	150	500	feature3	0	-"""
+            )
 
-    finally:
-        # clean up
-        fns = [
-            pybedtools.example_filename("a.bed.gz"),
-            pybedtools.example_filename("a.bed.gz.tbi"),
-        ]
-        for fn in fns:
-            if os.path.exists(fn):
-                os.unlink(fn)
+        finally:
+            # clean up
+            fns = [
+                pybedtools.example_filename("a.bed.gz"),
+                pybedtools.example_filename("a.bed.gz." + idx_type),
+            ]
+            for fn in fns:
+                if os.path.exists(fn):
+                    os.unlink(fn)
 
 
 def test_tabix_intervals():
@@ -177,6 +178,12 @@ def test_tabix_intervals():
     assert len(a.tabix_intervals("chr1")) == 1
 
 
+def test_tabix_contigs_csi():
+    a = pybedtools.example_bedtool("a.bed")
+    a = a.tabix(force=True, use_csi=True)
+    assert a.tabix_contigs() == ["chr1"]
+
+
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Streaming and non-file BedTool tests
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------