Identification and characterization of abundant repetitive sequences in Eragrostis tef cv. Enatite genome

BMC Plant Biology

Research Article

Andrea Zuccolo¹  Mario Enrico Pè¹  Edoardo Bertolini¹  Yohannes Gedamu Gebre² 

[1] Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà, 33-56127, Pisa, Italy;Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà, 33-56127, Pisa, Italy;Department of Dryland Crop and Horticultural Sciences, College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mekelle University, P.O.Box 231, Mekelle, Ethiopia;

关键词: Eragrostis tef;    Repetitive sequences;    Transposable Elements;    Satellite sequences;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-016-0725-4

 received in 2016-01-15, accepted in 2016-01-28,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEragrostis tef is an allotetraploid (2n = 4 × = 40) annual, C4 grass with an estimated nuclear genome size of 730 Mbp. It is widely grown in Ethiopia, where it provides basic nutrition for more than half of the population.Although a draft assembly of the E. tef genome was made available in 2014, characterization of the repetitive portion of the E. tef genome has not been a subject of a detailed analysis.Repetitive sequences constitute most of the DNA in eukaryotic genomes. Transposable elements are usually the most abundant repetitive component in plant genomes. They contribute to genome size variation, cause mutations, can result in chromosomal rearrangements, and influence gene regulation. An extensive and in depth characterization of the repetitive component is essential in understanding the evolution and function of the genome.ResultsUsing new paired-end sequence data and a de novo repeat identification strategy, we identified the most repetitive elements in the E. tef genome. Putative repeat sequences were annotated based on similarity to known repeat groups in other grasses.Altogether we identified 1,389 medium/highly repetitive sequences that collectively represent about 27 % of the teff genome. Phylogenetic analyses of the most important classes of TEs were carried out in a comparative framework including paralog elements from rice and maize. Finally, an abundant tandem repeat accounting for more than 4 % of the whole genome was identified and partially characterized.ConclusionsAnalyzing a large sample of randomly sheared reads we obtained a library of the repetitive sequences of E. tef. The approach we used was designed to avoid underestimation of repeat contribution; such underestimation is characteristic of whole genome assembly projects. The data collected represent a valuable resource for further analysis of the genome of this important orphan crop.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Gebre et al. 2016