Abstract
Cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) is an important legume crop for food security in areas of low-input and smallholder farming throughout Africa and Asia. Genetic improvements are required to increase yield and resilience to biotic and abiotic stress and to enhance cowpea crop performance. An integrated cowpea genomic and gene expression data resource has the potential to greatly accelerate breeding and the delivery of novel genetic traits for cowpea. Extensive genomic resources for cowpea have been absent from the public domain; however, a recent early release reference genome for IT97K-499-35 ( Vigna unguiculatav1.0, NSF, UCR, USAID, DOE-JGI, http://phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/) has now been established in a collaboration between the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and University California (UC) Riverside. Here we release supporting genomic and transcriptomic data for IT97K-499-35 and a second transformable cowpea variety, IT86D-1010. The transcriptome resource includes six tissue-specific datasets for each variety, with particular emphasis on reproductive tissues that extend and support the V. unguiculata v1.0 reference. Annotations have been included in our resource to allow direct mapping to the v1.0 cowpea reference. Access to this resource provided here is supported by raw and assembled data downloads.
Highlights
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) is a versatile grain legume crop, cultivated for vegetative consumption and animal fodder
We describe and release survey genome assemblies and tissue-specific transcriptome assemblies derived from IT86D-1010 and IT97K-499-35 to supplement and extend the existing cowpea sequence resources
We provide the first transcriptomic characterisation in both IT97K-499-35 and IT86D-1010 for floral tissues undergoing male and female gametogenic development, and early seed initiation
Summary
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) is a versatile grain legume crop, cultivated for vegetative consumption and animal fodder. We describe and release survey genome assemblies and tissue-specific transcriptome assemblies derived from IT86D-1010 and IT97K-499-35 to supplement and extend the existing cowpea sequence resources These cowpea varieties, of different pedigrees, are transformable using Agrobacteriummediated gene insertion (Popelka et al, 2006). They represent important genetic resources for investigating and substantiating gene function Their genomic and transcriptomic characterisation will enable identification and testing of cell-type specific promoters and genic tools that should facilitate the examination and synthesis of reproductive pathways to improve seed yield in cowpea. The work described in this publication provides a unique and valuable extension to emerging genomic and transcriptomic resources in cowpea These foundational resources will enable identification and testing of cell-type specific promoters and genic tools that should facilitate the examination and synthesis of reproductive pathways to improve seed yield in cowpea. All transcriptomic and genomic resources are provided with coordinate-based annotation to the IT97K-499-35 reference genome (V. unguiculata v1.0) providing integration of these resources to assist coordinated scientific progression of the cowpea research community
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