The majority of sequenced genomes in the monocots are from species belonging to Poaceae, which include many commercially important crops. Here, we expand the number of sequenced genomes from the monocots to include the genomes of four related cyperids: Carex cristatella and Carex scoparia from Cyperaceae and Juncus effusus and Juncus inflexus from Juncaceae. The high-quality, chromosome-scale genome sequences from these four cyperids were assembled by combining whole-genome shotgun sequencing of Nanopore long reads, Illumina short reads and Hi-C sequencing data. Some members of the Cyperaceae and Juncaceae are known to possess holocentric chromosomes. We examined the repeat landscapes in our sequenced genomes to search for potential repeats associated with centromeres. Several large satellite repeat families, comprising 3.2% to 9.5% of our sequenced genomes, showed dispersed distribution of large satellite repeat clusters across all Carex chromosomes, with few instances of these repeats clustering in the same chromosomal regions. In contrast, most large Juncus satellite repeats were clustered in a single location on each chromosome, with sporadic instances of large satellite repeats throughout the Juncus genomes. Recognizable transposable elements account for about 20% of each of the four genome assemblies, with the Carex genomes containing more DNA transposons than retrotransposons while the converse is true for the Juncus genomes. These genome sequences and annotations will facilitate better comparative analysis within monocots.

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Leafspot is one of the major diseases of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) that can cause more than 50% yield loss. The objective of this study was to identify and map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for resistance to leafspot disease. An F2:6 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population, derived from a released cultivar Tamrun OL07 and a highly tolerant breeding line Tx964117, were used as a mapping population. A total of 90 RILs were planted for disease phenotyping in Yoakum, Texas in 2010 and 2012. A genetic map spanning the 20 linkage groups was developed using 1,211 SNP markers based on double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq). A total of six quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified, with LOD score values of 3.2-5.0 and phenotypic variance explained ranging from 11%-24%. Major QTLs identified in this study may be used as potential targets for peanut improvement to leafspot disease through molecular breeding.

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Drought is one of the most critical abiotic stresses that threaten crop production worldwide. This stress affects the rice crop in all stages of rice development; however, the occurrence during reproductive and grain filling stages has the most impact on grain yield. Although many global transcriptomic studies have been performed during the reproductive stage in rice, very limited information is available for the grain filling stage. Hence, we intend to investigate how the rice plant responds to drought stress during the grain filling stage and how the responses change over time under field conditions. Two rice genotypes were selected for RNA-seq analysis: ‘4610’, previously reported as a moderately tolerant breeding line, and Rondo, an elite indica rice cultivar susceptible to drought conditions. Additionally, ten agronomic traits were evaluated under normal irrigated and drought conditions. Leaf tissues were collected during grain-filling stages at two time points, 14 and 21 days after the drought treatment, from both the drought field and normal irrigated field conditions. Based on agronomic performances, ‘4610’ was less negatively affected than Rondo under mild drought conditions, and expression profiling largely aligned with the phenotypic data. The transcriptomic data indicated that, in general, ‘4610’ had much earlier responses than its counterpart in mitigating the impact of drought stress. Several key genes and gene families related to drought stress or stress-related conditions were found differentially expressed in this study, including transcription factors, drought tolerance genes, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers. Furthermore, this study identified novel differentially expressed genes (DEGs) without function annotations that may play roles in drought tolerance-related functions. Some of the important DEGs detected in this study can be targeted for future research.