High-quality evergreen azalea genome reveals tandem duplication-facilitated low-altitude adaptability and floral scent evolution.

ABSTRACT: Azalea belongs to Rhododendron, which is one of the largest genera of flowering plants and is well known for the diversity and beauty in its more than 1000 woody species. Rhododendron contains two distinct groups: the most high-altitude and a few low-altitude species; however, the former group is difficult to be domesticated for urban landscaping, and their evolution and adaptation are little known. Rhododendron ovatum has broad adaptation in low-altitude regions but possesses evergreen characteristics like high-altitude species, and it has floral fragrance that is deficient in most cultivars. Here we report the chromosome-level genome assembly of R. ovatum, which has a total length of 549 Mb with scaffold N50 of 41 Mb and contains 41 264 predicted genes. Genomic micro-evolutionary analysi

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8633516 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature