Recent updates and developments to plant genome size databases

Sònia Garcia,Jaume Pellicer,Daniel Vitales,Oriane Hidalgo,Joan Vallès,Michael D Bennett,Gemma Mas De Xaxars,Ilia J Leitch,Alba Anadon-Rosell,Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev,Emmeline Johnston,Teresa Garnatje,Miguel Á Canela,Francisco Gálvez,Airy Gras

doi:10.1093/nar/gkt1195

Abstract

Two plant genome size databases have been recently updated and/or extended: the Plant DNA C-values database (http://data.kew.org/cvalues), and GSAD, the Genome Size in Asteraceae database (http://www.asteraceaegenomesize.com). While the first provides information on nuclear DNA contents across land plants and some algal groups, the second is focused on one of the largest and most economically important angiosperm families, Asteraceae. Genome size data have numerous applications: they can be used in comparative studies on genome evolution, or as a tool to appraise the cost of whole-genome sequencing programs. The growing interest in genome size and increasing rate of data accumulation has necessitated the continued update of these databases. Currently, the Plant DNA C-values database (Release 6.0, Dec. 2012) contains data for 8510 species, while GSAD has 1219 species (Release 2.0, June 2013), representing increases of 17 and 51%, respectively, in the number of species with genome size data, compared with previous releases. Here we provide overviews of the most recent releases of each database, and outline new features of GSAD. The latter include (i) a tool to visually compare genome size data between species, (ii) the option to export data and (iii) a webpage containing information about flow cytometry protocols.

Highlights

The total amount of DNA in the unreplicated haploid or gametic nucleus of an organism is referred to as the Cvalue or genome size [1], and across eukaryotes it varies approximately 66 000-fold [2]
This article focuses on the two open-access plant genome size databases, which have recently been updated: the Plant DNA C-values database (Release 6.0, December 2012, http://data.kew.org/cvalues) and the Genome size in Asteraceae database (GSAD; Release 2.0, June 2013, http://www.asteraceaegenomesize.com)
Analysis of the data available in the Plant DNA C-values database illustrates the considerable diversity in genome sizes between the different land plant and algal groups, both in terms of the range of genome sizes encountered and the distribution of genome sizes (Figure 3, Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

The total amount of DNA in the unreplicated haploid or gametic nucleus of an organism is referred to as the Cvalue or genome size [1], and across eukaryotes it varies approximately 66 000-fold [2]. This article focuses on the two open-access plant genome size databases, which have recently been updated: the Plant DNA C-values database (Release 6.0, December 2012, http://data.kew.org/cvalues) and the Genome size in Asteraceae database (GSAD; Release 2.0, June 2013, http://www.asteraceaegenomesize.com).

Results

Conclusion