Open AccessThe draft genome of a wild barley genotype reveals its enrichment in genes related to biotic and abiotic stresses compared to cultivated barley
Author(s) -
Liu Miao,
Li Yan,
Ma Yanling,
Zhao Qiang,
Stiller Jiri,
Feng Qi,
Tian Qilin,
Liu Dengcai,
Han Bin,
Liu Chunji
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plant biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.525
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1467-7652
pISSN - 1467-7644
DOI - 10.1111/pbi.13210
Subject(s) - biology , hordeum vulgare , genome , hordeum , gene , genetics , domestication , reference genome , abiotic stress , genomics , botany , poaceae
Summary Wild barley ( Hordeum spontaneum ) is the progenitor of cultivated barley ( Hordeum vulgare ) and provides a rich source of genetic variations for barley improvement. Currently, the genome sequences of wild barley and its differences with cultivated barley remain unclear. In this study, we report a high‐quality draft assembly of wild barley accession (AWCS276; henceforth named as WB1), which consists of 4.28 Gb genome and 36 395 high‐confidence protein‐coding genes. BUSCO analysis revealed that the assembly included full lengths of 95.3% of the 956 single‐copy plant genes, illustrating that the gene‐containing regions have been well assembled. By comparing with the genome of the cultivated genotype Morex, it is inferred that the WB1 genome contains more genes involved in resistance and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The presence of the numerous WB1‐specific genes indicates that, in addition to enhance allele diversity for genes already existing in the cultigen, exploiting the wild barley taxon in breeding should also allow the incorporation of novel genes. Furthermore, high levels of genetic variation in the pericentromeric regions were detected in chromosomes 3H and 5H between the wild and cultivated genotypes, which may be the results of domestication. This H. spontaneum draft genome assembly will help to accelerate wild barley research and be an invaluable resource for barley improvement and comparative genomics research.