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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #396642
Research Project: Improving Crop Efficiency Using Genomic Diversity and Computational Modeling

Location: Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research

Title: A happy accident: a novel turfgrass reference genome

Author
item PHILLIPS, ALYSSA - University Of California, Davis
item SEETHARAM, ARUN - Iowa State University
item AUBUCHON-ELDER, TAYLOR - Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
item Buckler, Edward - Ed
item GILLESPIE, LYNN - Canadian Museum Of Nature
item HUFFORD, MATTHEW - Iowa State University
item LLACA, VICTOR - Corteva Agriscience
item ROMAY, MARIA - Cornell University
item SORENG, ROBERT - Smithsonian Research Institute
item KELLOGG, ELIZABETH - Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
item ROSS-IBARRA, JEFFEREY - University Of California, Davis

Submitted to: bioRxiv
Publication Type: Pre-print Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/9/2022
Publication Date: 3/9/2022
Citation: Phillips, A.R., Seetharam, A.S., Aubuchon-Elder, T., Buckler IV, E.S., Gillespie, L.J., Hufford, M.B., Llaca, V., Romay, M.C., Soreng, R.J., Kellogg, E.A., Ross-Ibarra, J. 2022. A happy accident: a novel turfgrass reference genome. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.08.483531.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.08.483531

Interpretive Summary: P. pratensis , commonly known as Kentucky bluegrass, is a popular grass species used in lawns and recreation areas worldwide. However, despite it's widespread use, a reference genome has not been assembled because it is biologically complex and has a large genome. This paper presents a de novo assembly and annotation of a P. pratensis. This reference genome and annotation will be an important resource for turfgrass breeding and biologists interested in this complex species.

Technical Abstract: Poa pratensis, commonly known as Kentucky bluegrass, is a popular cool-season grass species used as turf in lawns and recreation areas globally. Despite its substantial economic value, a reference genome had not previously been assembled due to the genome’s relatively large size and biological complexity that includes apomixis, polyploidy, and interspecific hybridization. We report here a fortuitous de novo assembly and annotation of a P. pratensis genome. The draft assembly consists of 6.09 Gbp with an N50 scaffold length of 65.1 Mbp, and a total of 118 scaffolds, generated using PacBio long reads and Bionano optical map technology. We annotated 256K gene models and found 58% of the genome to be composed of transposable elements. To demonstrate the applicability of the reference genome, we evaluated population structure and estimated genetic diversity in three North American wild P. pratensis populations. Our results support previous studies that found high genetic diversity and population structure within the species. The reference genome and annotation will be an important resource for turfgrass breeding and biologists interested in this complex species.