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A high-continuity genome assembly of Chinese flowering cabbage (Brassica rapa var. parachinensis) provides new insights into Brassica genome structure evolution
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  • Guangguang Li,
  • Juntao Wang,
  • Yi Liao,
  • Ding Jiang ,
  • Yansong Zheng,
  • Xiuchun Dai,
  • Hailong Ren,
  • Jianjun Lei,
  • Guoju Chen,
  • Bihao Cao,
  • Hua Zhang,
  • Changming Chen
Guangguang Li

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Juntao Wang
South China Agricultural University
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Ding Jiang
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Yansong Zheng
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Xiuchun Dai
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Hailong Ren
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Jianjun Lei
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Guoju Chen
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Changming Chen
South China Agricultural University
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Abstract

Chinese flowering cabbage (Brassica rapa var. parachinensis) is a popular and widely cultivated leaf vegetable crop in Asia. Here, we performed a high quality de novo assembly of the 384 Mb genome of 10 chromosomes of a typical cultivar of Chinese flowering cabbage with an integrated approach using PacBio, Illumina, and Hi-C technology. We modeled 47,598 protein-coding genes in this analysis and annotated 52% (205.9/384) of its genome as repetitive sequences including 17% in DNA elements and 22% in long terminal retrotransposons (LTRs). Phylogenetic analysis reveals the genome of the Chinese flowering cabbage has a closer evolutionary relationship with the AA diploid progenitor of the allotetraploid species, Brassica juncea. Comparative genomic analysis of Brassica species with different subgenome types (A, B and C) reveals that the pericentromeric regions on chromosome 5 and 6 of the AA genome have been significantly expanded compared to the orthologous genomic regions in the BB and CC genomes, largely drive by LTR-retrotransposon amplification. This lineage-specific expansion may play a role in the species divergence in the Brassica genus. Furthermore, we found that a large amount of structural variations (SVs) identified within B. rapa lines that could impact coding genes, suggesting the functional significance of SVs on Brassica genome evolution. Overall, our high-quality genome assembly of the Chinese flowering cabbage provides a valuable genetic resource for deciphering the genome evolution of Brassica species and it can potentially serve as the reference genome guiding the molecular breeding practice of B. rapa crops.
14 Aug 2020Submitted to Molecular Ecology Resources
03 Sep 2020Submission Checks Completed
03 Sep 2020Assigned to Editor