A happy accident: a novel turfgrass reference genome

Abstract

Poa pratensis, commonly known as Kentucky bluegrass, is a popular cool-season grass species used as turf in lawns and recreation areas globally. Despite its substantial economic value, a reference genome had not previously been assembled due to the genome's relatively large size and biological complexity that includes apomixis, polyploidy, and interspecific hybridization. We report here a fortuitous de novo assembly and annotation of a P. pratensis genome. The draft assembly consists of 6.09 Gbp with an N50 scaffold length of 65.1 Mbp, and a total of 118 scaffolds, generated using PacBio long reads and Bionano optical map technology. We annotated 256K gene models and found 58% of the genome to be composed of transposable elements. To demonstrate the applicability of the reference genome, we evaluated population structure and estimated genetic diversity in three North American wild P. pratensis populations. Our results support previous studies that found high genetic diversity and population structure within the species. The reference genome and annotation will be an important resource for turfgrass breeding and biologists interested in this complex species.

Pertinent Water-Saving Management Strategies for Sustainable Turfgrass in the Desert U.S. Southwest

“…Mainly because of large genome sizes and biological complexity attributed to apomixis, polyploidy, and interspecific hybridization [62][63][64][65][66], genomic approach of turfgrass improvement is lagging. However, with the current efforts in genome sequencing of turfgrasses [67], genome editing may bring a paradigm shift in targeted gene editing for both biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. This novel approach of gene editing is mostly applicable in developing stresses tolerant turfgrasses through manipulating the sequences of candidate regulatory and/or coding genes.…”