The genome of a wild Medicago species provides insights into the tolerant mechanisms of legume forage to environmental stress

BMC Biology

Fengling Shi¹  Nevin D. Young²  Zhaolan Wang³  Yansu Li⁴  Andrew D. Farmer⁵  Gang Zhou⁶  Dan Gao⁶  Mengyan Zhou⁶  Rujin Chen⁷  Yuhui Chen⁷  Caihong Li⁸  Tianzuo Wang⁸  Wen-Hao Zhang⁸  Di Zhang⁸  Xiuxiu Zhang⁸  Lifei Ren⁸ 

[1] College of Ecology and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University;Departments of Plant Pathology and Plant Biology, University of Minnesota;Institute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences;Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences;National Centre for Genome Resources;Novogene Bioinformatics Institute;School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University;State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences;

关键词: Wild genetic resource;    Genome;    Evolution;    Domestication;    Comparative genomics;    Transcriptome;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12915-021-01033-0

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background Medicago ruthenica, a wild and perennial legume forage widely distributed in semi-arid grasslands, is distinguished by its outstanding tolerance to environmental stress. It is a close relative of commonly cultivated forage of alfalfa (Medicago sativa). The high tolerance of M. ruthenica to environmental stress makes this species a valuable genetic resource for understanding and improving traits associated with tolerance to harsh environments. Results We sequenced and assembled genome of M. ruthenica using an integrated approach, including PacBio, Illumina, 10×Genomics, and Hi-C. The assembled genome was 904.13 Mb with scaffold N50 of 99.39 Mb, and 50,162 protein-coding genes were annotated. Comparative genomics and transcriptomic analyses were used to elucidate mechanisms underlying its tolerance to environmental stress. The expanded FHY3/FAR1 family was identified to be involved in tolerance of M. ruthenica to drought stress. Many genes involved in tolerance to abiotic stress were retained in M. ruthenica compared to other cultivated Medicago species. Hundreds of candidate genes associated with drought tolerance were identified by analyzing variations in single nucleotide polymorphism using accessions of M. ruthenica with varying tolerance to drought. Transcriptomic data demonstrated the involvements of genes related to transcriptional regulation, stress response, and metabolic regulation in tolerance of M. ruthenica. Conclusions We present a high-quality genome assembly and identification of drought-related genes in the wild species of M. ruthenica, providing a valuable resource for genomic studies on perennial legume forages.

【 授权许可】

Unknown