The Earth BioGenome project: opportunities and challenges for plant genomics and conservation

Moises Exposito-Alonso (Lead / Corresponding author), Hajk-Georg Drost, Hernán A. Burbano, Detlef Weigel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Sequencing them all. That is the ambitious goal of the recently launched Earth BioGenome project (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115, 4325–4333), which aims to produce reference genomes for all eukaryotic species within the next decade. In this perspective, we discuss the opportunities of this project with a plant focus, but highlight also potential limitations. This includes the question of how to best capture all plant diversity, as the green taxon is one of the most complex clades in the tree of life, with over 300 000 species. For this, we highlight four key points: (i) the unique biological insights that could be gained from studying plants, (ii) their apparent underrepresentation in sequencing efforts given the number of threatened species, (iii) the necessity of phylogenomic methods that are aware of differences in genome complexity and quality, and (iv) the accounting for within-species genetic diversity and the historical aspect of conservation genetics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)222-229
Number of pages8
JournalPlant Journal
Volume102
Issue number2
Early online date1 Dec 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2020

Keywords

  • conservation genomics
  • Earth BioGenome
  • genome sequencing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics
  • Plant Science
  • Cell Biology

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