The draft genome of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis)

• Published in: Nature genetics Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 59 - 66
• Main Authors: Xu, Qiang, Chen, Ling-Ling, Ruan, Xiaoan, Chen, Dijun, Zhu, Andan, Chen, Chunli, Bertrand, Denis, Jiao, Wen-Biao, Hao, Bao-Hai, Lyon, Matthew P, Chen, Jiongjiong, Gao, Song, Xing, Feng, Lan, Hong, Chang, Ji-Wei, Ge, Xianhong, Lei, Yang, Hu, Qun, Miao, Yin, Wang, Lun, Xiao, Shixin, Biswas, Manosh Kumar, Zeng, Wenfang, Guo, Fei, Cao, Hongbo, Yang, Xiaoming, Xu, Xi-Wen, Cheng, Yun-Jiang, Xu, Juan, Liu, Ji-Hong, Luo, Oscar Junhong, Tang, Zhonghui, Guo, Wen-Wu, Kuang, Hanhui, Zhang, Hong-Yu, Roose, Mikeal L, Nagarajan, Niranjan, Deng, Xiu-Xin, Ruan, Yijun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.01.2013; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/208/212; 631/208/2491; Accuracy; Agriculture; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Biomedicine; Cancer Research; Chimera; Chromosome Mapping; Citrus; Citrus fruits; Citrus sinensis; Citrus sinensis - genetics; Citrus sinensis - metabolism; Cloning; Cluster Analysis; Computational Biology - methods; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA sequencing; Evolution, Molecular; Fruits; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Function; Gene Order; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetics; Genome, Plant; Genomes; Genomics; Health aspects; Heterozygote; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Human Genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleotide sequencing; Orange; Phylogeny; Physiological aspects; Vitamin C; Vitamins - metabolism; United States; China
• ISSN: 1061-4036; 1546-1718
• DOI: 10.1038/ng.2472

Yijun Ruan and colleagues report the draft genome of the sweet orange, Citrus sinensis . Their data suggests sweet orange originated from a cross between pummelo and mandarin. Oranges are an important nutritional source for human health and have immense economic value. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of the draft genome of sweet orange ( Citrus sinensis ). The assembled sequence covers 87.3% of the estimated orange genome, which is relatively compact, as 20% is composed of repetitive elements. We predicted 29,445 protein-coding genes, half of which are in the heterozygous state. With additional sequencing of two more citrus species and comparative analyses of seven citrus genomes, we present evidence to suggest that sweet orange originated from a backcross hybrid between pummelo and mandarin. Focused analysis on genes involved in vitamin C metabolism showed that GalUR , encoding the rate-limiting enzyme of the galacturonate pathway, is significantly upregulated in orange fruit, and the recent expansion of this gene family may provide a genomic basis. This draft genome represents a valuable resource for understanding and improving many important citrus traits in the future.