Biotech Updates

Scientists Release Ash Tree Genome Assembly

October 2, 2013

The team of researchers at CLC bio and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have released a genome assembly of the European ash tree, Fraxinus excelsior, as part of the British Ash Tree Genome project. The release comes as populations of ash trees across Europe have been devastated by the ash dieback fungus, which spread to Denmark and to the UK in 2003 and 2012, respectively.

QMUL Senior Lecturer Dr. Richard Buggs, states, "We were very fortunate to sequence a tree that was the progeny of a self-pollination, produced ten years ago by David Boshier from the University of Oxford. The tree is now an invaluable resource, because its low heterozygosity enables a higher quality genome assembly than would have been possible in a more heterozygous tree."

The British Ash Tree Genome (BATG ) project started in January 2013. The latest assemblies are available for download on the BATG website at http://www.ashgenome.org/. For more information, read the news release at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/clc-bio-and-uk-scientists-assemble-ash-tree-genome-2013-09-26.