Abstract
Cassava, a tropical food, feed and biofuel crop, has great capacity for biomass accumulation and an extraordinary efficiency in water use and mineral nutrition, which makes it highly suitable as a model plant for tropical crops. However, the understanding of the metabolism and genomics of this important crop is limited. The recent breakthroughs in the genomics of cassava, including whole-genome sequencing and transcriptome analysis, as well as advances in the biology of photosynthesis, starch biosynthesis, adaptation to drought and high temperature, and resistance to virus and bacterial diseases, are reviewed here. Many of the new developments have come from comparative analyses between a wild ancestor and existing cultivars. Finally, the current challenges and future potential of cassava as a model plant are discussed.
Highlights
Model plants such as Arabidopsis and rice are extensively used for the discovery of genes and for the validation of their function and interactions [1]
Especially rapid genome-sequencing methods, has enabled development of universal model biology for organisms that survive in diverse ecological environments
Setaria has been used as a model for Panicoideae crops and C4 photosynthesis [2,3,4]
Summary
Model plants such as Arabidopsis and rice are extensively used for the discovery of genes and for the validation of their function and interactions [1]. Especially rapid genome-sequencing methods, has enabled development of universal model biology for organisms that survive in diverse ecological environments. Setaria has been used as a model for Panicoideae crops and C4 photosynthesis [2,3,4]. Plant species from the tropics, such as cassava, rubber tree, sugarcane, banana, coconut and medicinal plants, are extremely diverse and supply considerable economic or ecological value. Such tropical species share some biological properties in their adaption to high temperature
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