Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) draft genome provides a platform for trait improvement.

ABSTRACT: Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is a globally significant forage legume in pastoral livestock farming systems. It is an attractive component of grassland farming, because of its high yield and protein content, nutritional value and ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Enhancing its role further in sustainable agriculture requires genetic improvement of persistency, disease resistance, and tolerance to grazing. To help address these challenges, we have assembled a chromosome-scale reference genome for red clover. We observed large blocks of conserved synteny with Medicago truncatula and estimated that the two species diverged ~23 million years ago. Among the 40,868 annotated genes, we identified gene clusters involved in biochemical pathways of importance for forage quality and livestock

SUBMITTER: De Vega JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4663792 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature