| Title: |
Low-cost assembly of a cacao crop genome is able to resolve complex heterozygous bubbles |
| Authors: |
Joe Morrissey; J. Conrad Stack; Rebecca Valls; Juan Carlos Motamayor |
| Source: |
Horticulture Research, Vol 6, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2019) |
| Publisher Information: |
Oxford University Press |
| Publication Year: |
2019 |
| Collection: |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
| Subject Terms: |
Botany; QK1-989; Plant culture; SB1-1110 |
| Description: |
A sweet solution for studying cacao genetics Genomic insights from an efficient, low-cost DNA sequencing strategy could enable more sustainable cacao cultivation. Growing demand for chocolate is currently being satisfied by increasing land use. A richer understanding of this plant’s genome could enable development of more productive strains, and Juan Carlos Motamayor and colleagues at Mars Chocolate have demonstrated a method for rapidly collecting such data. Most sequencing platforms produce vast multitudes of short DNA sequences which must then be assembled into a final map—a particular challenge for cacao, whose genome contains complex repetitive regions that are tough to reconstruct. Using a newer platform known as MinION, which produces far longer sequence reads, Motamayor’s team assembled a detailed genome map for a widely-used cacao cultivar within months for under $5,000. This approach could facilitate genetic engineering efforts to improve crop performance. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41438-019-0125-7; https://doaj.org/toc/2052-7276; https://doaj.org/article/f475d725bad149459e407d58948066b1 |
| DOI: |
10.1038/s41438-019-0125-7 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41438-019-0125-7; https://doaj.org/article/f475d725bad149459e407d58948066b1 |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.C51D1836 |
| Database: |
BASE |