Oil palm genome sequence reveals divergence of interfertile species in Old and New worlds

Abstract

Oil palm is the most productive oil-bearing crop. Planted on only 5% of the total vegetable oil acreage, palm oil accounts for 33% of vegetable oil, and 45% of edible oil worldwide, but increased cultivation competes with dwindling rainforest reserves. We report the 1.8 gigabase (Gb) genome sequence of the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis, the predominant source of worldwide oil production. 1.535 Gb of assembled sequence and transcriptome data from 30 tissue types were used to predict at least 34,802 genes, including oil biosynthesis genes and homologues of WRINKLED1 (WRI1), and other transcriptional regulators1, which are highly expressed in the kernel. We also report the draft sequence of the S. American oil palm Elaeis oleifera, which has the same number of chromosomes (2n=32) and produces fertile interspecific hybrids with E. guineensis2, but appears to have diverged in the new world. Segmental duplications of chromosome arms define the palaeotetraploid origin of palm trees. The oil palm sequence enables the discovery of genes for important traits as well as somaclonal epigenetic alterations which restrict the use of clones in commercial plantings3, and thus helps achieve sustainability for biofuels and edible oils, reducing the rainforest footprint of this tropical plantation crop.

Genome-wide SNP discovery and genetic linkage map construction in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) using a genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach

“…This higher alignment percentage stresses the importance of the genome because oil palm has a complete genome sequence (Singh et al 2013) while the current assembly of the sunflower genome represents only 85 % of the complete genome. Although the draft genome of sunflower is not complete, the assembled genome is highly accurate and contiguous because most (more than 76 %) of the contigs larger than 5 kb were assigned to the physical and/or genetic map (Kane et al 2011).…”

Brief Review on the Controversies around Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.) Production and Palm Oil Consumption

“…Despite the controversies surrounding the oil palm industry, and with reference to the bulk of scientific knowledge developed so far from diverse studies on the oil palm and other plants (Van Der Vossen, 1974;Noiret & Wuidart, 1976;Corley & Tinker, 2003;Singh et al, 2007;Kellens et al, 2007;Billotte et al, 2010;Singh et al, 2013;Montoya et al, 2014), it could be interesting if this crop is considered beyond just serving economic interests. The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)…”

Pemanfaatan bioinformatika dalam bidang pertanian dan kesehatan (The utilization of bioinformatics in the field of agriculture and health)

“…Penelitian terkait sekuensing genom tanaman telah dilakukan pada padi dan jagung sejak 19 tahun yang lalu (COE 1998;Goff et al, 2002). Beberapa contoh lain genom lengkap dari spesies tanaman yang sudah disekuens dalam kurun waktu 10 tahun terakhir adalah tanaman kentang, tomat, kacang kedelai, rumput, kelapa sawit, karet, kopi dan tebu (Haas et al, 2009;Schmutz et al, 2010;Vogel et al, 2010;Xu et al, 2011;Sato et al, 2012;Singh et al, 2013;Denoeud et al, 2014;de Setta et al, 2014;Lau et al, 2016;Tang et al, 2016). Sebagian basis data terkait genom tanaman tersebut bersifat publik atau disebut open access sehingga dapat digunakan dalam penelitian lanjutan oleh para peneliti di seluruh dunia.…”