本期Nature Communications报告了对44种高粱（包括各种不同的高粱子类和地理来源）所做的全基因组重新测序结果。这些数据突显了栽培高粱的遗传多样性，为这种粮食作物的遗传改良提供了一个关键资源。
高粱是一种耐旱作物，是撒哈拉以南非洲地区和亚洲地区大约5亿人的主食。因此它在气候变化的条件下满足不断增长的粮食需求方面至关重要。在世界范围内，它是一种重要的动物饲料来源，同时也正在成为一种潜在有价值的生物燃料作物。David Jordan及同事发表了44种高粱的高覆盖率基因组序列，目的是寻找在高粱产量和其他农业经济性状上扮演一定角色的基因。
作者通过分析野生高粱和栽培高粱之间的分化识别出与驯化和作物改良有关的725个候选基因，报告了在农艺性状上可能扮演一定角色的285个驯化基因。这项研究将使我们能够在包括水稻、玉米和大豆在内的其他谷类作物之间进行遗传比较，并且还有可能帮助将高粱的适应性性状引入到这些和其他谷类作物中。（生物谷 Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐的英文摘要
Nature Communications doi:10.1038/ncomms3320
Whole-genome sequencing reveals untapped genetic potential in Africa’s indigenous cereal crop sorghum
Emma S. Mace,1, 9 Shuaishuai Tai,2, 9 Edward K. Gilding,3 Yanhong Li,2 Peter J. Prentis,4 Lianle Bian,2 Bradley C. Campbell,3 Wushu Hu,2 David J. Innes,5 Xuelian Han,2 Alan Cruickshank,1 Changming Dai,2 Céline Frère,3 Haikuan Zhang,2 Colleen H. Hunt,1 Xianyuan Wang,2 Tracey Shatte,1 Miao Wang,2 Zhe Su,2 Jun Li,2 Xiaozhen Lin,2 Ian D. Godwin,3 David R. Jordan6 & Jun Wang2, 7, 8
Sorghum is a food and feed cereal crop adapted to heat and drought and a staple for 500 million of the world’s poorest people. Its small diploid genome and phenotypic diversity make it an ideal C4 grass model as a complement to C3 rice. Here we present high coverage (16–45 × ) resequenced genomes of 44 sorghum lines representing the primary gene pool and spanning dimensions of geographic origin, end-use and taxonomic group. We also report the first resequenced genome of S. propinquum, identifying 8 M high-quality SNPs, 1.9 M indels and specific gene loss and gain events in S. bicolor. We observe strong racial structure and a complex domestication history involving at least two distinct domestication events. These assembled genomes enable the leveraging of existing cereal functional genomics data against the novel diversity available in sorghum, providing an unmatched resource for the genetic improvement of sorghum and other grass species.
