A research team led by scientists at the John Innes Center sequenced and annotated the chromosome-scale genome assembly. Grass peas (Latilus sativus)is a promising legume crop that is tolerant to a wide range of stress factors and has potential for climate resilient agriculture.
Grass peas are legume crops valued for their resilience in the face of environmental stresses such as drought, flooding, and salinity.
This crop has been cultivated for at least 8,000 years. widely distributed It is cultivated in parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but most current cultivation occurs in southern Asia and the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Widespread cultivation of peas has been hampered by toxins in the seeds and shoots. The toxin can cause a disease called neurolatyrism, which causes irreversible paralysis in malnourished people.
Another major barrier to improved crop breeding has been the lack of genomic references for the crop.
The availability of new genome sequences means researchers can use gene editing and modern breeding methods to develop grass pea varieties with improved agronomic properties and low or no toxin content. means.
This means that grass peas may be poised to make an important contribution to a more diverse and climate-resilient food system in the future.
“We hope to establish this new genome sequence as a reference genome for grass pea communities, and we are pleased to share this valuable resource for other scientists to use and learn about grass pea.” says researcher Dr. Peter Emrich. Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development and the John Innes Centre.
“As climate shocks increase, this genome allows us to unlock the secrets of grass pea's resilience, further improve this crop for farmers, and inform the development of other crops such as pea. ”
The sugar bean genome sequence, which is nearly twice the size of the human genome, was assembled from scratch and is an improvement on an earlier draft assembly of the active sugar bean line LS007.
Dr Ann Edwards, a researcher at the John Innes Center, said: “As we prepare for a future with even more climate change, we will need crops that can cope with drought, flooding and saltwater inundation.”
“This new genome sequence means we are even closer to adding grass beans to the list of future climate-smart crops.”
“This is a very exciting time to be joining the grass pea research community.”
of findings Published in a magazine scientific data.
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M. Vigroux others. 2024. Chromosome-scale reference genome of Poaceae (Latilus sativus). scientific data 11, 1035; doi: 10.1038/s41597-024-03868-y
Source: www.sci.news
