Abstract
The drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is a perennial crop that has gained popularity in certain developing countries for its high-nutrition content and adaptability to arid and semi-arid environments. Here we report a high-quality draft genome sequence of M. oleifera. This assembly represents 91.78% of the estimated genome size and contains 19,465 protein-coding genes. Comparative genomic analysis between M. oleifera and related woody plant genomes helps clarify the general evolution of this species, while the identification of several species-specific gene families and positively selected genes in M. oleifera may help identify genes related to M. oleifera's high protein content, fast-growth, heat and stress tolerance. This reference genome greatly extends the basic research on M. oleifera, and may further promote applying genomics to enhanced breeding and improvement of M. oleifera.
Highlights
The drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is a perennial crop that has gained popularity in certain developing countries for its high-nutrition content and adaptability to arid and semi-arid environments
Based on the 17-mer frequency distribution, the estimated genome size was estimated at 315 Mb (Table S2), and further flow cytometry indicated that the nuclear genome size (c-value) of M. oleifera was comparable and/or smaller than that of Oryza sativa
Our analyses indicate that the last whole genome duplication (WGD) events of these two species took place before they diverged from A. thaliana, that is the At-γ WGD; a finding further supported by calculating the Ks between the paralogous genes of M. oleifera (Figure 1D) which showed only one obvious peak where Ks≈1.8
Summary
The drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is a perennial crop that has gained popularity in certain developing countries for its high-nutrition content and adaptability to arid and semi-arid environments. Comparative genomic analysis between M. oleifera and related woody plant genomes helps clarify the general evolution of this species, while the identification of several species-specific gene families and positively selected genes in M. oleifera may help identify genes related to M. oleifera’s high protein content, fast-growth, heat and stress tolerance. M. oleifera grows well at altitudes from 0 to 1,800 m and in areas with rainfall between 500 and 1,500 mm per year, making it suitable for both semi-arid and arid ecosystem, which covers 37.0% of the earth’s geographical area, and even larger swaths of the developing world Despite these benefits and efforts to cultivate the tree, little basic research on M. oleifera has been conducted, which greatly limits its further traditional and novel applications. For the first time we have sequenced the genome of M. oleifera and provided well-assembled and annotated genome that should prove invaluable in furthering the uses and investigations of this important perennial
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