scholarly journals Automated assembly scaffolding elevates a new tomato system for high-throughput genome editing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Alonge ◽  
Ludivine Lebeigle ◽  
Melanie Kirsche ◽  
Sergey Aganezov ◽  
Xingang Wang ◽  
...  

Advancing crop genomics requires efficient genetic systems enabled by high-quality personalized genome assemblies. Here, we introduce RagTag, a toolset for automating assembly scaffolding and patching, and we establish chromosome-scale reference genomes for the widely used tomato genotype M82 along with Sweet-100, a rapid-cycling genotype that we developed to accelerate functional genomics and genome editing. This work outlines strategies to rapidly expand genetic systems and genomic resources in other plant species.

Author(s):  
Niloofar Vaghefi ◽  
Dante Adorada ◽  
Lauren Huth ◽  
Lisa A Kelly ◽  
Barsha Poudel ◽  
...  

Despite the substantial economic impact of Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens (Cff) on legume productions worldwide, the genetic basis of its pathogenicity and potential host association is poorly understood. The production of high-quality reference genome assemblies of Cff strains associated with different hosts sheds light on the genetic basis of its pathogenic variability and host association. Moreover, the study of recent outbreaks of bacterial wilt and microevolution of the pathogen in Australia requires access to high-quality, reference genomes that are sufficiently closely related to the population being studied within Australia. We provide the first genome assemblies of Cff strains associated with mungbean and soybean, which revealed high variability in their plasmid composition. The analysis of Cff genomes revealed an extensive suite of carbohydrate-active enzymes potentially associated with pathogenicity, including four carbohydrate esterases, 50 glycoside hydrolases, 23 glycosyl transferases, and a polysaccharide lyase. We also identified 11 serine peptidases, three of which were located within a linear plasmid, pCff119. These high-quality assemblies and annotations will provide a foundation for population genomics studies of Cff in Australia and for answering fundamental questions regarding pathogenicity factors and adaptation of Cff to various hosts worldwide, and, at a broader scale, contribute to unravelling genomic features of Gram-positive, xylem-inhabiting bacterial pathogens.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (31) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keeley O’Grady ◽  
Thomas V. Riley ◽  
Daniel R. Knight

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of life-threatening health care-related gastrointestinal illness worldwide. Phylogenetically appropriate closed reference genomes are essential for studies of C. difficile transmission and evolution. Here, we provide high-quality complete hybrid genome assemblies for the three most prevalent C. difficile strains causing CDI in Australia.


Nature ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 592 (7856) ◽  
pp. 737-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arang Rhie ◽  
Shane A. McCarthy ◽  
Olivier Fedrigo ◽  
Joana Damas ◽  
Giulio Formenti ◽  
...  

AbstractHigh-quality and complete reference genome assemblies are fundamental for the application of genomics to biology, disease, and biodiversity conservation. However, such assemblies are available for only a few non-microbial species1–4. To address this issue, the international Genome 10K (G10K) consortium5,6 has worked over a five-year period to evaluate and develop cost-effective methods for assembling highly accurate and nearly complete reference genomes. Here we present lessons learned from generating assemblies for 16 species that represent six major vertebrate lineages. We confirm that long-read sequencing technologies are essential for maximizing genome quality, and that unresolved complex repeats and haplotype heterozygosity are major sources of assembly error when not handled correctly. Our assemblies correct substantial errors, add missing sequence in some of the best historical reference genomes, and reveal biological discoveries. These include the identification of many false gene duplications, increases in gene sizes, chromosome rearrangements that are specific to lineages, a repeated independent chromosome breakpoint in bat genomes, and a canonical GC-rich pattern in protein-coding genes and their regulatory regions. Adopting these lessons, we have embarked on the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP), an international effort to generate high-quality, complete reference genomes for all of the roughly 70,000 extant vertebrate species and to help to enable a new era of discovery across the life sciences.


Author(s):  
Arang Rhie ◽  
Shane A. McCarthy ◽  
Olivier Fedrigo ◽  
Joana Damas ◽  
Giulio Formenti ◽  
...  

AbstractHigh-quality and complete reference genome assemblies are fundamental for the application of genomics to biology, disease, and biodiversity conservation. However, such assemblies are only available for a few non-microbial species1–4. To address this issue, the international Genome 10K (G10K) consortium5,6 has worked over a five-year period to evaluate and develop cost-effective methods for assembling the most accurate and complete reference genomes to date. Here we summarize these developments, introduce a set of quality standards, and present lessons learned from sequencing and assembling 16 species representing major vertebrate lineages (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, teleost fishes and cartilaginous fishes). We confirm that long-read sequencing technologies are essential for maximizing genome quality and that unresolved complex repeats and haplotype heterozygosity are major sources of error in assemblies. Our new assemblies identify and correct substantial errors in some of the best historical reference genomes. Adopting these lessons, we have embarked on the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP), an effort to generate high-quality, complete reference genomes for all ~70,000 extant vertebrate species and help enable a new era of discovery across the life sciences.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny E. Miller ◽  
Cynthia Staber ◽  
Julia Zeitlinger ◽  
R. Scott Hawley

ABSTRACTThe Drosophila genus is a unique group containing a wide range of species that occupy diverse ecosystems. In addition to the most widely studied species, Drosophila melanogaster, many other members in this genus also possess a well-developed set of genetic tools. Indeed, high-quality genomes exist for several species within the genus, facilitating studies of the function and evolution of cis-regulatory regions and proteins by allowing comparisons across at least 50 million years of evolution. Yet, the available genomes still fail to capture much of the substantial genetic diversity within the Drosophila genus. We have therefore tested protocols to rapidly and inexpensively sequence and assemble the genome from any Drosophila species using single-molecule sequencing technology from Oxford Nanopore. Here, we use this technology to present high-quality genome assemblies of 15 Drosophila species: 10 of the 12 originally sequenced Drosophila species (ananassae, erecta, mojavensis, persimilis, pseudoobscura, sechellia, simulans, virilis, willistoni, and yakuba), four additional species that had previously reported assemblies (biarmipes, bipectinata, eugracilis, and mauritiana), and one novel assembly (triauraria). Genomes were generated from an average of 29x depth-of-coverage data that after assembly resulted in an average contig N50 of 4.4 Mb. Subsequent alignment of contigs from the published reference genomes demonstrates that our assemblies could be used to close over 60% of the gaps present in the currently published reference genomes. Importantly, the materials and reagents cost for each genome was approximately $1,000 (USD). This study demonstrates the power and cost-effectiveness of long-read sequencing for genome assembly in Drosophila and provides a framework for the affordable sequencing and assembly of additional Drosophila genomes.


aBIOTECH ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Ligeng Ma

AbstractCommon wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the three major food crops in the world; thus, wheat breeding programs are important for world food security. Characterizing the genes that control important agronomic traits and finding new ways to alter them are necessary to improve wheat breeding. Functional genomics and breeding in polyploid wheat has been greatly accelerated by the advent of several powerful tools, especially CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology, which allows multiplex genome engineering. Here, we describe the development of CRISPR/Cas9, which has revolutionized the field of genome editing. In addition, we emphasize technological breakthroughs (e.g., base editing and prime editing) based on CRISPR/Cas9. We also summarize recent applications and advances in the functional annotation and breeding of wheat, and we introduce the production of CRISPR-edited DNA-free wheat. Combined with other achievements, CRISPR and CRISPR-based genome editing will speed progress in wheat biology and promote sustainable agriculture.


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