Abstract
Papaya is a major fruit crop in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It has long been recognized as a nutritious fruit with medicinal properties. It has a small genomes and highly homozygous because hermaphrodite varieties are self-pollinated. The novel features of nascent sex chromosomes in papaya and its agricultural importance are additional justifications for sequencing the genome. A female plant of the transgenic variety SunUp was selected for sequencing to avoid the complication of assembling the XY chromosomes in a male or hermaphrodite plant. The draft genome revealed fewer genes than sequenced genomes of flowering plants, partly due to its lack of genome-wide duplication since the ancient triplication event shared by eudicots. Most gene families have fewer members in papaya, including significantly fewer disease resistance genes. However, striking amplifications in gene number were found in some functional groups, including MADS-box genes, starch synthases, and volatiles that might affect the speciation and adaptation of papaya. The draft genome was used to accelerate the construction of physical maps of sex chromosomes in papaya and to clone a gene controlling fruit flesh color. The papaya draft genome, integrated genetic and physical maps, the EST database, and other genomic resources built for the genome sequencing project will expedite papaya improvement and the exploration of its nutritional and medicinal applications in developing countries.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the following agencies and programs for funding relevant parts of the research: NSF Plant Genome Research Program (Award No. DBI-0922545), USDA-ARS Cooperative Agreements with the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, USDA T-STAR program through the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Wai, C.M., Han, J., Singh, R., Aryal, R., Wang, ML., Ming, R. (2012). Analyzing the Papaya Genome. In: Nelson, K., Jones-Nelson, B. (eds) Genomics Applications for the Developing World. Advances in Microbial Ecology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2182-5_18
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