International Team Crack Sesame Genome

Researchers from China, Denmark, and other institutes have successfully cracked the genome of sesame, a high oil content crop, providing insights on the important stages of seed development and oil accumulation, and the potential key genes for sesamin production.

In the study, researchers produced a high-quality draft genome of the sesame genotype ‘Zhongzhi No. 13', an elite cultivar in China, planted over the last ten years. The assembled sesame genome size is about 337 Mb, with a total of 27,148 genes. Result highlighted the absence of the Toll/interleukin-1 receptor domain in resistance genes, and suggested that this may be a new paradigm in elucidating the interaction of resistance genes along with diseases.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is considered as the queen of oilseeds for its high oil content and quality, and grown widely in tropical and subtropical areas as an important source of oil and protein. The joint efforts of the Oil Crops Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, BGI, University of Copenhagen, and other institutes made sesame the second Lamiales to be sequenced along with the former published minute genome of Utricularia gibba. Results of the study were published online in Genome Biology: http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/2/R39/abstract.

For more information, read the news release at: http://www.genomics.cn/en/news/show_news?nid=99933.