Cassava genome from a wild ancestor to cultivated varieties

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 5110
• Main Authors: Wang, Wenquan, Feng, Binxiao, Xiao, Jingfa, Xia, Zhiqiang, Zhou, Xincheng, Li, Pinghua, Zhang, Weixiong, Wang, Ying, Møller, Birger Lindberg, Zhang, Peng, Luo, Ming-Cheng, Xiao, Gong, Liu, Jingxing, Yang, Jun, Chen, Songbi, Rabinowicz, Pablo D., Chen, Xin, Zhang, Hong-Bin, Ceballos, Henan, Lou, Qunfeng, Zou, Meiling, Carvalho, Luiz J.C.B., Zeng, Changying, Xia, Jing, Sun, Shixiang, Fu, Yuhua, Wang, Haiyan, Lu, Cheng, Ruan, Mengbin, Zhou, Shuigeng, Wu, Zhicheng, Liu, Hui, Kannangara, Rubini Maya, Jørgensen, Kirsten, Neale, Rebecca Louise, Bonde, Maya, Heinz, Nanna, Zhu, Wenli, Wang, Shujuan, Zhang, Yang, Pan, Kun, Wen, Mingfu, Ma, Ping-An, Li, Zhengxu, Hu, Meizhen, Liao, Wenbin, Hu, Wenbin, Zhang, Shengkui, Pei, Jinli, Guo, Anping, Guo, Jianchun, Zhang, Jiaming, Zhang, Zhengwen, Ye, Jianqiu, Ou, Wenjun, Ma, Yaqin, Liu, Xinyue, Tallon, Luke J., Galens, Kevin, Ott, Sandra, Huang, Jie, Xue, Jingjing, An, Feifei, Yao, Qingqun, Lu, Xiaojing, Fregene, Martin, López-Lavalle, L. Augusto Becerra, Wu, Jiajie, You, Frank M., Chen, Meili, Hu, Songnian, Wu, Guojiang, Zhong, Silin, Ling, Peng, Chen, Yeyuan, Wang, Qinghuang, Liu, Guodao, Liu, Bin, Li, Kaimian, Peng, Ming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 10.10.2014; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Pub. Group
• Subjects: 38/47; 631/208/8; 631/449/2491; Evolution, Molecular; Genetic Variation; Genome, Plant; Humanities and Social Sciences; Manihot - classification; Manihot - genetics; Manihot - metabolism; Molecular Sequence Data; multidisciplinary; Photosynthesis; Phylogeny; Plant Proteins - genetics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Selection, Genetic; Starch - metabolism
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6110

Cassava is a major tropical food crop in the Euphorbiaceae family that has high carbohydrate production potential and adaptability to diverse environments. Here we present the draft genome sequences of a wild ancestor and a domesticated variety of cassava and comparative analyses with a partial inbred line. We identify 1,584 and 1,678 gene models specific to the wild and domesticated varieties, respectively, and discover high heterozygosity and millions of single-nucleotide variations. Our analyses reveal that genes involved in photosynthesis, starch accumulation and abiotic stresses have been positively selected, whereas those involved in cell wall biosynthesis and secondary metabolism, including cyanogenic glucoside formation, have been negatively selected in the cultivated varieties, reflecting the result of natural selection and domestication. Differences in microRNA genes and retrotransposon regulation could partly explain an increased carbon flux towards starch accumulation and reduced cyanogenic glucoside accumulation in domesticated cassava. These results may contribute to genetic improvement of cassava through better understanding of its biology. Cassava is a major source of food in tropical and subtropical regions. Here the authors sequence the genomes of wild and domesticated cassava varieties and identify genes that have been selected for and against during the evolution and domestication of this economically important crop.