Genome sequence of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) provides insights into grass evolution and biofuel potential.

Gengyun Zhang, Xin Liu, Zhiwu Quan, Shifeng Cheng, Xun Xu, Shengkai Pan, Min Xie, Peng Zeng, Zhen Yue, Wenliang Wang, Ye Tao, Chao Bian, Changlei Han, Qiuju Xia, Xiaohua Peng, Rui Cao, Xinhua Yang, Dongliang Zhan, Jingchu Hu, Yinxin Zhang, Henan Li, Hua Li, Ning Li, Junyi Wang, Chanchan Wang, Renyi Wang, Tao Guo, Yanjie Cai, Chengzhang Liu, Haitao Xiang, Qiuxiang Shi, Ping Huang, Qingchun Chen, Yingrui Li, Jun Wang, Zhihai Zhao, Jian Wang

Index: Nat. Biotechnol. 30(6) , 549-54, (2012)

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Abstract

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), a member of the Poaceae grass family, is an important food and fodder crop in arid regions and has potential for use as a C(4) biofuel. It is a model system for other biofuel grasses, including switchgrass and pearl millet. We produced a draft genome (∼423 Mb) anchored onto nine chromosomes and annotated 38,801 genes. Key chromosome reshuffling events were detected through collinearity identification between foxtail millet, rice and sorghum including two reshuffling events fusing rice chromosomes 7 and 9, 3 and 10 to foxtail millet chromosomes 2 and 9, respectively, that occurred after the divergence of foxtail millet and rice, and a single reshuffling event fusing rice chromosome 5 and 12 to foxtail millet chromosome 3 that occurred after the divergence of millet and sorghum. Rearrangements in the C(4) photosynthesis pathway were also identified.