鈥淲e submitted the idea to sequence the聽resurrection grass,聽Oropetium thomaeum to聽PacBio because it has the smallest known genome among the grasses. Having the genomic data of a highly drought tolerant species is really powerful in facilitating crop improvement, and providing a valuable resource for the plant comparative genomics community. Information gained from this collaboration is an聽important step in the effort to sustainably improve聽the ability of important food and energy crops to survive in drought conditions without reducing the harvest,鈥� said Mockler.
This hearty grass is a resurrection plant due to its ability to survive in desert like conditions even though it looks lifeless but still has less than a third of its original water content. The tiny C4 grass, which grows on rock outcrops in parts of Africa and India, is closely related to major food, feed and bioenergy crops and has the ability to be revived with a small amount of water and resume growth. The Oropetium genome sequence will help lead to understanding of novel drought tolerance mechanisms for efficient and productive agricultural land use.
鈥淥ur customers often tell us that SMRT Sequencing helps them make completely new discoveries in the organisms they study,鈥� said Jonas Korlach, Chief Scientific Officer at Pacific Biosciences. 鈥淲ith the highest-quality genome assemblies, targeted sequencing for incredibly complex regions, and the ability to study full-length isoforms as well as epigenetics, PacBio technology portrays a truly comprehensive view of biology that no other sequencing technology can offer.鈥�
Papers cited:Robert VanBuren, Doug Bryant, et al. 鈥淪ingle-molecule sequencing of the desiccation tolerant grass Oropetium thomaeum.鈥� Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature15714.html Bernardo Carvalho et al. 鈥淏irth of a new gene on the Y chromosome of聽Drosophila melanogaster.鈥� PNAS:
Minoche, A.E., Dohm, J.C., Schneider, J., Holtgr盲we, D., et al. 鈥淓xploiting single-molecule transcript sequencing for eukaryotic gene prediction.鈥� Genome Biology. 16184. http://www.genomebiology.com/2015/16/1/184
About The Donald Danforth Plant Science CenterFounded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research, education and outreach aim to have impact at the nexus of food security and the environment, and position the St. Louis region as a world center for plant science. The Center鈥檚 work is funded through competitive grants from many sources, including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.聽
To keep up to date with Danforth Center鈥檚 current operations and areas of research, please visit,聽www.danforthcenter.org, featuring information on Center聽scientists, news, and the 鈥淩oots & Shoots鈥� blog. Follow us on Twitter at聽@DanforthCenter.聽
About Pacific BiosciencesPacific Biosciences of California, Inc.聽(NASDAQ:PACB) offers the PacBio庐聽RS II Sequencing System and Sequel鈩� System to help scientists resolve genetically complex problems. Based on its novel Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT庐) technology, Pacific Biosciences鈥� products enable: de novo genome assembly to finish genomes in order to more fully identify, annotate and decipher genomic structures; full-length transcript analysis to improve annotations in reference genomes, characterize alternatively spliced isoforms in important gene families, and find novel genes; targeted sequencing to more comprehensively characterize genetic variations; and DNA base modification identification to help characterize epigenetic regulation and DNA damage. Pacific Biosciences鈥� technology provides the industry鈥檚 highest consensus accuracy overthe longest read lengths in combination with the ability to detect real-time kinetic information. The PacBio Sequencing Systems, including consumables and software, provides a simple, fast, end-to-end workflow for SMRT Sequencing. More information is available at聽www.pacb.com.
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