A new reference genome for Sorghum bicolor reveals high levels of sequence similarity between sweet and grain genotypes: implications for the genetics of sugar metabolism.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The process of crop domestication often consists of two stages: initial domestication, where the wild species is first cultivated by humans, followed by diversification, when the domesticated species are subsequently adapted to more environments and specialized uses. Selective pressure to increase sugar accumulation in certain varieties of the cereal crop Sorghum bicolor is an excellent example of the latter; this has resulted in pronounced phenotypic divergence between sweet and grain-type sorghums, but the genetic mechanisms underlying these differences remain poorly understood.

Results

Here we present a new reference genome based on an archetypal sweet sorghum line and compare it to the current grain sorghum reference, revealing a high rate of nonsynonymous and

SUBMITTER: Cooper EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6537160 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature