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Phillips AR, Seetharam AS, Albert PS, AuBuchon-Elder T, Birchler JA, Buckler ES, Gillespie LJ, Hufford MB, Llaca V, Romay MC, Soreng RJ, Kellogg EA, Ross-Ibarra J. A happy accident: a novel turfgrass reference genome. G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 2023:7099442. [DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/04/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Poa pratensis, commonly known as Kentucky bluegrass, is a popular cool-season grass species used as turf in lawns and recreation areas globally. Despite its substantial economic value, a reference genome had not previously been assembled due to the genome’s relatively large size and biological complexity that includes apomixis, polyploidy, and interspecific hybridization. We report here a fortuitous de novo assembly and annotation of a P. pratensis genome. Instead of sequencing the genome of a C4 grass, we accidentally sampled and sequenced tissue from a weedy P. pratensis whose stolon was intertwined with that of the C4 grass. The draft assembly consists of 6.09 Gbp with an N50 scaffold length of 65.1 Mbp, and a total of 118 scaffolds, generated using PacBio long reads and Bionano optical map technology. We annotated 256 K gene models and found 58% of the genome to be composed of transposable elements. To demonstrate the applicability of the reference genome, we evaluated population structure and estimated genetic diversity in P. pratensis collected from three North American prairies, two in Manitoba, Canada and one in Colorado, USA. Our results support previous studies that found high genetic diversity and population structure within the species. The reference genome and annotation will be an important resource for turfgrass breeding and study of bluegrasses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyssa R Phillips
- Department of Evolution and Ecology and Center for Population Biology, University of California , Davis, Davis, CA 95616 , USA
| | - Arun S Seetharam
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University , Ames, IA 50011 , USA
| | - Patrice S Albert
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri , Columbia, MO 65201 , USA
| | | | - James A Birchler
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri , Columbia, MO 65201 , USA
| | - Edward S Buckler
- School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Section of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14850 , USA
- Institute for Genomic Diversity, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14850 , USA
- Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture , Ithaca, NY 14850 , USA
| | - Lynn J Gillespie
- Botany Section, Research and Collections, Canadian Museum of Nature , Ottawa, ON K2P 2R1 , Canada
| | - Matthew B Hufford
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri , Columbia, MO 65201 , USA
| | | | - M Cinta Romay
- Institute for Genomic Diversity, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14850 , USA
| | - Robert J Soreng
- Deptartment of Botany, Smithsonian Institution , Washington, DC 20560 , USA
| | | | - Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra
- Department of Evolution and Ecology and Center for Population Biology, University of California , Davis, Davis, CA 95616 , USA
- Genome Center, University of California , Davis, Davis, CA 95616 , USA
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AuBuchon-Elder T, Coneva V, Goad DM, Jenkins LM, Yu Y, Allen DK, Kellogg EA. Sterile Spikelets Contribute to Yield in Sorghum and Related Grasses. Plant Cell 2020; 32:3500-3518. [PMID: 32873633 PMCID: PMC7610286 DOI: 10.1105/tpc.20.00424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2020] [Revised: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and its relatives in the grass tribe Andropogoneae bear their flowers in pairs of spikelets in which one spikelet (seed-bearing or sessile spikelet [SS]) of the pair produces a seed and the other is sterile or male (staminate). This division of function does not occur in other major cereals such as wheat (Triticum aestivum) or rice (Oryza sativa). Additionally, one bract of the SS spikelet often produces a long extension, the awn, that is in the same position as, but independently derived from, that of wheat and rice. The function of the sterile spikelet is unknown and that of the awn has not been tested in Andropogoneae. We used radioactive and stable isotopes of carbon, RNA sequencing of metabolically important enzymes, and immunolocalization of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) to show that the sterile spikelet assimilates carbon, which is translocated to the largely heterotrophic SS. The awn shows no evidence of photosynthesis. These results apply to distantly related species of Andropogoneae. Removal of sterile spikelets in sorghum significantly decreases seed weight (yield) by ∼9%. Thus, the sterile spikelet, but not the awn, affects yield in the cultivated species and fitness in the wild species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - David M Goad
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
- Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130
| | - Lauren M Jenkins
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
- U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
| | - Yunqing Yu
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
| | - Doug K Allen
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
- U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
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