Chromosome‐scale pseudomolecules refined by optical, physical and genetic maps in flax. (21st May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: You, Frank M.; Xiao, Jin; Li, Pingchuan; Yao, Zhen; Jia, Gaofeng; He, Liqiang; Zhu, Tingting; Luo, Ming‐Cheng; Wang, Xiue; Deyholos, Michael K.; Cloutier, Sylvie
• Is Part Of: Plant journal. Volume 95:Number 2(2018)
• Page Start: 371
• Page End: 384
• Publication Date: 2018-05-21
• Subjects: optical mapping -- BioNano technology -- genome sequencing -- physical map -- genetic map -- genome finishing -- flax -- Linum usitatissimum; Plant molecular biology -- Periodicals; Plant cells and tissues -- Periodicals; Botany -- Periodicals; 580
• DOI: 10.1111/tpj.13944
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-7412

Abstract

Summary: Genomes of varying sizes have been sequenced with next‐generation sequencing platforms. However, most reference sequences include draft unordered scaffolds containing chimeras caused by mis‐scaffolding. A BioNano genome (BNG) optical map was constructed to improve the previously sequenced flax genome ( Linum usitatissimum L., 2 n = 30, about 373 Mb), which consisted of 3852 scaffolds larger than 1 kb and totalling 300.6 Mb. The high‐resolution BNG map of cv. CDC Bethune totalled 317 Mb and consisted of 251 BNG contigs with an N50 of 2.15 Mb. A total of 622 scaffolds (286.6 Mb, 94.9%) aligned to 211 BNG contigs (298.6 Mb, 94.2%). Of those, 99 scaffolds, diagnosed to contain assembly errors, were refined into 225 new scaffolds. Using the newly refined scaffold sequences and the validated bacterial artificial chromosome‐based physical map of CDC Bethune, the 211 BNG contigs were scaffolded into 94 super‐BNG contigs (N50 of 6.64 Mb) that were further assigned to the 15 flax chromosomes using the genetic map. The pseudomolecules total about 316 Mb, with individual chromosomes of 15.6 to 29.4 Mb, and cover 97% of the annotated genes. Evidence from the chromosome‐scale pseudomolecules suggests that flax has undergone palaeopolyploidization and mesopolyploidization events, followed by rearrangements and deletions or fusion of chromosome arms from an ancient progenitor with a haploid chromosome number of eight. Significance Statement: Reference genome sequences relying solely or largely on next generation sequencing platforms are fragmented and unordered and need validation. To improve the assembly of the whole genome shotgun of flax, we designed a strategy that incorporates a BioNano genome optical map, a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)‐based physical map, a consensus genetic map, and re‐sequencing data. In doing so, we produced a chromosome‐scale level genome assembly of high quality. This strategy could be applied broadly.