Mungbean (Vigna radiata) is a fast-growing, warm-season legume crop that is primarily cultivated in developing countries of Asia. Here we construct a draft genome sequence of mungbean to facilitate genome research into the subgenus Ceratotropis, which includes several important dietary legumes in Asia, and to enable a better understanding of the evolution of leguminous species. Based on the de novo assembly of additional wild mungbean species, the divergence of what was eventually domesticated and the sampled wild mungbean species appears to have predated domestication. Moreover, the de novo assembly of a tetraploid Vigna species (V. reflexo-pilosa var. glabra) provides genomic evidence of a recent allopolyploid event. The species tree is constructed using de novo RNA-seq assemblies of 22 accessions of 18 Vigna species and protein sets of Glycine max. The present assembly of V. radiata var. radiata will facilitate genome research and accelerate molecular breeding of the subgenus Ceratotropis.

PowerCore software uses the .NET Framework Version 1.1 environment which is freely available for the MS Windows platform. The files can be downloaded from http://genebank.rda.go.kr/powercore/. The distribution of the package includes executable programs, sample data and a user manual.

Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis var. angularis) is a dietary legume crop in East Asia. The presumed progenitor (Vigna angularis var. nipponensis) is widely found in East Asia, suggesting speciation and domestication in these temperate climate regions. Here, we report a draft genome sequence of adzuki bean. The genome assembly covers 75% of the estimated genome and was mapped to 11 pseudo-chromosomes. Gene prediction revealed 26,857 high confidence protein-coding genes evidenced by RNAseq of different tissues. Comparative gene expression analysis with V. radiata showed that the tissue specificity of orthologous genes was highly conserved. Additional re-sequencing of wild adzuki bean, V. angularis var. nipponensis, and V. nepalensis, was performed to analyze the variations between cultivated and wild adzuki bean. The determined divergence time of adzuki bean and the wild species predated archaeology-based domestication time. The present genome assembly will accelerate the genomics-assisted breeding of adzuki bean.

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Millets such as proso millet have excellent nutritional properties and could become a basic resource for crop breeding programs and food diversification. In this study, 25 polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed and characterized through construction of an SSR-enriched library from genomic DNA of proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.). In total,110 alleles were detected, with an average of 4.4 alleles per locus. Values of major allele frequency (MAF) and expected heterozygosity (HE) ranged from 0.36 to 0.98 (mean = 0.73) and from 0.04 to 0.74 (mean = 0.37), respectively. The mean genetic similarity coefficient was 0.3711, indicating that among 50 accessions of proso millet there was wide genetic variation. The newly developed microsatellite markers should be useful tools for assessing genetic diversity, understanding population structure, and breeding of proso millet.

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The numbers of SSR markers and their utilization have not been determined and investigated as extensively in Fagopyrum species as compared to other crop species. The current report presents 136 new SSR markers in Fagopyrum esculentum ssp. esculentum and their application to related species in the genus Fagopyrum. Of the 136 SSRs, 10 polymorphic SSR markers were utilized in a genetic diversity analysis of a common buckwheat population consisting of 41 accessions of diverse origin. The study showed observed (H(O)) and expected (H(E)) heterozygosities ranging from 0.071 to 0.924 (mean = 0.53) and from 0.073 to 0.902 (mean = 0.412), respectively. Forty-one of the 136 SSRs amplified sequences in other Fagopyrum species, including the cymosum and urophyllum groups. The phylogenetic relationships revealed using the SSRs was consistent with results obtained using other marker systems, with one exception. The sequence and diversity information obtained using these new SSRs and their cross-transferability to related Fagopyrum species will increase our understanding of genetic structures and species relationships within the Fagopyrum genus.

This study was carried out to assess the genetic diversity and to analyze the population genetic structure for a total of 692 mungbean accessions preserved at National Agrobiodiversity Center (NAC) of the Rural Development Administration (RDA), Korea. Mungbean accessions were collected from 27 countries in nine different geographic regions, and were genotyped using 15 microsatellite markers, which were developed in our previous study. A total of 66 alleles were detected among 692 accessions at all the loci with an average of 4.4 alleles per locus. All the microsatellite loci were found to be polymorphic. The expected heterozygosity (HE) and polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.081 to 0.588 (mean = 0.345) and from 0.080 to 0.544 (mean = 0.295), respectively. Of the 66 alleles, 17 (25.8%) were common (frequency range between 0.05 and 0.5), 15 (22.7%) were abundant (frequency range > 0.5), and 34 (51.5%) were rare (frequency range < 0.05). Locus GB-VR-7 provided the highest number of rare alleles(eight), followed by GB-VR-91(six) and GB-VR-113(four). Country-wide comparative study on genetic diversity showed that accessions from the USA possessed the highest genetic diversity (PIC) followed by Nepal, Iran, and Afghanistan. And region-wide showed that accessions from Europe possessed the highest average genetic diversity, followed by accessions from the USA, South Asia, West Asia, and Oceania. Twenty-seven countries were grouped into seven clades by phylogenetic relationship analysis, but clustering pattern did not strictly follow their geographical origin because of extensive germplasm exchange between/among countries and regions. As a result of a model-based analysis (STRUC-TURE) of microsatellite data, two distinct genetic groups were identified which shared more than 75% membership with one of the two genetic groups. However the genetic group pattern did not reflect their geographical origin. The Duncan's Multiple Range Test among these two genetic groups and an admixed group, with a mean of 16 phenotypic traits, showed significant difference in 12 quantitative and qualitative traits on the basis of ANOVA. These 15 newly developed SSR markers proved to be useful as DNA markers to detect genetic variation in mungbean germplasm for reasonable management and crossbreeding purposes.