The construction and characteristics of a BAC library for Cucumis sativus L. 'B10'

A high-quality cucumber genome assembly enhances computational comparative genomics

Genetic variation is expressed by the presence of polymorphisms in compared genomes of individuals that can be transferred to next generations. The aim of this work was to reveal genome dynamics by predicting polymorphisms among the genomes of three individuals of the highly inbred B10 cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) line. In this study, bioinformatic comparative genomics was used to uncover cucumber genome dynamics (also called real-time evolution). We obtained a new genome draft assembly from long single molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing reads and used short paired-end read data from three individuals to analyse the polymorphisms. Using this approach, we uncovered differentiation aspects in the genomes of the inbred B10 line. The newly assembled genome sequence (B10v3) has the highest contiguity and quality characteristics among the currently available cucumber genome draft sequences. Standard and newly designed approaches were used to predict single nucleotide and structural variants that were unique among the three individual genomes. Some of the variant predictions spanned protein-coding genes and their promoters, and some were in the neighbourhood of annotated interspersed repetitive elements, indicating that the highly inbred homozygous plants remained genetically dynamic. This is the first bioinformatic comparative genomics study of a single highly inbred plant line. For this project, we developed a polymorphism prediction method with optimized precision parameters, which allowed the effective detection of small nucleotide variants (SNVs). This methodology could significantly improve bioinformatic pipelines for comparative genomics and thus has great practical potential in genomic metadata handling.

Next generation sequencing and omics in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) breeding directed research

In the post-genomic era the availability of genomic tools and resources is leading us to novel generation methods in plant breeding, as they facilitate the study of the genotype and its relationship with the phenotype, in particular for complex traits. In this study we have mainly concentrated on the Cucumis sativus and (but much less) Cucurbitaceae family several important vegetable crops. There are many reports on research conducted in Cucurbitaceae plant breeding programs on the ripening process, phloem transport, disease resistance, cold tolerance and fruit quality traits. This paper presents the role played by new omic technologies in the creation of knowledge on the mechanisms of the formation of the breeding features. The analysis of NGS (NGS-next generation sequencing) data allows the discovery of new genes and regulatory sequences, their positions, and makes available large collections of molecular markers. Genome-wide expression studies provide breeders with an understanding of the molecular basis of complex traits. Firstly a high density map should be created for the reference genome, then each re-sequencing data could be mapped and new markers brought out into breeding populations. The paper also presents methods that could be used in the future for the creation of variability and genomic modification of the species in question. It has been shown also the state and usefulness in breeding the chloroplastomic and mitochondriomic study.

The genome sequence of the North-European cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) unravels evolutionary adaptation mechanisms in plants

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), a widely cultivated crop, has originated from Eastern Himalayas and secondary domestication regions includes highly divergent climate conditions e.g. temperate and subtropical. We wanted to uncover adaptive genome differences between the cucumber cultivars and what sort of evolutionary molecular mechanisms regulate genetic adaptation of plants to different ecosystems and organism biodiversity. Here we present the draft genome sequence of the Cucumis sativus genome of the North-European Borszczagowski cultivar (line B10) and comparative genomics studies with the known genomes of: C. sativus (Chinese cultivar – Chinese Long (line 9930)), Arabidopsis thaliana, Populus trichocarpa and Oryza sativa. Cucumber genomes show extensive chromosomal rearrangements, distinct differences in quantity of the particular genes (e.g. involved in photosynthesis, respiration, sugar metabolism, chlorophyll degradation, regulation of gene expression, photooxidative stress tolerance, higher non-optimal temperatures tolerance and ammonium ion assimilation) as well as in distributions of abscisic acid-, dehydration- and ethylene-responsive cis-regulatory elements (CREs) in promoters of orthologous group of genes, which lead to the specific adaptation features. Abscisic acid treatment of non-acclimated Arabidopsis and C. sativus seedlings induced moderate freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis but not in C. sativus. This experiment together with analysis of abscisic acid-specific CRE distributions give a clue why C. sativus is much more susceptible to moderate freezing stresses than A. thaliana. Comparative analysis of all the five genomes showed that, each species and/or cultivars has a specific profile of CRE content in promoters of orthologous genes. Our results constitute the substantial and original resource for the basic and applied research on environmental adaptations of plants, which could facilitate creation of new crops with improved growth and yield in divergent conditions.

Adventures in the enormous: a 1.8 million clone BAC library for the 21.7 Gb genome of loblolly pine

Loblolly pine (LP; Pinus taeda L.) is the most economically important tree in the U.S. and a cornerstone species in southeastern forests. However, genomics research on LP and other conifers has lagged behind studies on flowering plants due, in part, to the large size of conifer genomes. As a means to accelerate conifer genome research, we constructed a BAC library for the LP genotype 7-56. The LP BAC library consists of 1,824,768 individually-archived clones making it the largest single BAC library constructed to date, has a mean insert size of 96 kb, and affords 7.6X coverage of the 21.7 Gb LP genome. To demonstrate the efficacy of the library in gene isolation, we screened macroarrays with overgos designed from a pine EST anchored on LP chromosome 10. A positive BAC was sequenced and found to contain the expected full-length target gene, several gene-like regions, and both known and novel repeats. Macroarray analysis using the retrotransposon IFG-7 (the most abundant repeat in the sequenced BAC) as a probe indicates that IFG-7 is found in roughly 210,557 copies and constitutes about 5.8% or 1.26 Gb of LP nuclear DNA; this DNA quantity is eight times the Arabidopsis genome. In addition to its use in genome characterization and gene isolation as demonstrated herein, the BAC library should hasten whole genome sequencing of LP via next-generation sequencing strategies/technologies and facilitate improvement of trees through molecular breeding and genetic engineering. The library and associated products are distributed by the Clemson University Genomics Institute (www.genome.clemson.edu).

Construction and characterization of two BAC libraries representing a deep-coverage of the genome of chicory (Cichorium intybus L., Asteraceae)

Background

The Asteraceae represents an important plant family with respect to the numbers of species present in the wild and used by man. Nonetheless, genomic resources for Asteraceae species are relatively underdeveloped, hampering within species genetic studies as well as comparative genomics studies at the family level. So far, six BAC libraries have been described for the main crops of the family, i.e. lettuce and sunflower. Here we present the characterization of BAC libraries of chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) constructed from two genotypes differing in traits related to sexual and vegetative reproduction. Resolving the molecular mechanisms underlying traits controlling the reproductive system of chicory is a key determinant for hybrid development, and more generally will provide new insights into these traits, which are poorly investigated so far at the molecular level in Asteraceae.

Findings

Two bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries, CinS2S2 and CinS1S4, were constructed from HindIII-digested high molecular weight DNA of the contrasting genotypes C15 and C30.01, respectively. C15 was hermaphrodite, non-embryogenic, and S₂S₂ for the S-locus implicated in self-incompatibility, whereas C30.01 was male sterile, embryogenic, and S₁S₄. The CinS2S2 and CinS1S4 libraries contain 89,088 and 81,408 clones. Mean insert sizes of the CinS2S2 and CinS1S4 clones are 90 and 120 kb, respectively, and provide together a coverage of 12.3 haploid genome equivalents. Contamination with mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA sequences was evaluated with four mitochondrial and four chloroplast specific probes, and was estimated to be 0.024% and 1.00% for the CinS2S2 library, and 0.028% and 2.35% for the CinS1S4 library. Using two single copy genes putatively implicated in somatic embryogenesis, screening of both libraries resulted in detection of 12 and 13 positive clones for each gene, in accordance with expected numbers.

Conclusions

This indicated that both BAC libraries are valuable tools for molecular studies in chicory, one goal being the positional cloning of the S-locus in this Asteraceae species.