Grass Genome Evolution and Domestication

Abstract

Since their last common ancestor more than 100 million years ago, the grasses (Poaceae) have experienced a complex evolutionary history (Prasad et al., 2011). Whole genome duplications (WGDs), inter-species hybridization events, and large-scale rearrangements driven by mobile elements have all contributed to the enormous diversification of grass genomes (Qiao et al., 2019). At the end of this process, edible plant domestication through selection for important food production traits created new phenotypes and arguably new species. Grasses are one of the largest families within flowering plants, including the cereals which are crucial for food security.

The availability of long-read sequencing protocols and bioinformatic tools for genome assembly allows the reconstruction of entire genomes for a large number of species. In addition, the low cost of short-read sequencing allows researchers to acquire knowledge on large data sets, ranging from thousands of accessions of the same species to several dozen species of different genera. Together these data provide novel resources to study the evolution of genomes and genes across phylogenetic groups.