Comprehensive sequence analysis identifies DNA polymorphisms among cassava varieties

September 12, 2013

—will accelerate cassava genome breeding and contribute to solving the global food problem

The RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science and Colombia’s International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), as part of the Consultative Group and on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), have together identified more than 10,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among 17 strains of cassava, an important source of starch. The number of SNPs identified in cassava is one of the largest to date. Analysis of the relationships between the obtained SNP information and gene functions revealed a relationship between the SNPs and stress responses and disease resistance genes.

These findings provide an important clue for genome breeding. They are also expected to promote large-scale and efficient progress in cassava genome breeding by providing DNA SNP information and improving the information research infrastructure. The results of this research have been organized as a database, the Cassava Online Archive (http://cassava.psc.riken.jp/), and released to the public for researchers around the world.

Original article

PLOS ONE doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0074056

T. Sakurai, K. Mochida, T. Yoshida, K. Akiyama, M. Ishitani, M. Seki, K. Shinozaki,

“Genome-wide discovery and information resource development of DNA polymorphisms in cassava”.

Contact

Tetsuya Sakurai

Unit Leader

Integrated Genome Informatics Research Unit, Metabolomics Research Group