Scientists Sequence the Loblolly Pine Genome, The Largest Ever

A team of U.S. researchers has successfully sequenced the largest known genome, that of the loblolly pine, commercially the most important tree species.

The massive genome sequence of the loblolly pine was completed by scientists at the University of California, Davis. The draft genome, seven times larger than the human genome, is the most complete conifer genome to be sequenced till date. They completed the genome sequencing using faster and more efficient analytical process.

This largest genome of the most commercially important tree species in the U.S. will help scientists breed enhanced varieties of loblolly pine, the source of most American paper products and also develop it as feedstock for biofuel. Apart from this, the newly sequenced genome will offer improved understanding of evolution and diversity of plants.

"It's a huge genome. But the challenge isn't just collecting all the sequence data. The problem is assembling that sequence into order," David Neale, professor of plant sciences at the University of California, Davis, who led the loblolly pine genome, project said in a news release.

The scientists found it extremely challenging to sequence the enormous size of the genome of loblolly pine (16 billion fragments). In this new study, the researchers overcame the barrier by using a novel technique that speeds up the genome assembly by compressing the raw data 100-fold.

Scientists at the University of Maryland developed the new method. This method pre processes the sequence data and filters the necessary information. This technique was tested in this study and scientists were able to come up with a complete genome sequence.

"The size of the pieces of consecutive sequence that we assembled are orders of magnitude larger than what's been previously published," said Neale.

The new genome sequencing claims that 82 percent of the loblolly genome consists of invasive DNA materials and other DNA elements that replicate themselves around the genome. The scientists discovered that location of genes that may be involved in battling the pathogens. This might help the study scientists know more about the disease-resistance pathogens living in pines.

 "Now that we've unlocked its genetic secrets, loblolly pine will take on even greater importance as we look for new sources of biomass to drive our nation's bio-economy, and ways to increase carbon sequestration and mitigate climate change," said Sonny Ramaswamy, director of USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The study was documented in issue of GENETICS and the journal Genome Biology.