SEQUENCING OF 150 CITRUS VARIETIES: LINKING GENOTYPES TO PHENOTYPES

Elucidation of genomic sequences is an essential and necessary first step to identify genetic variants associated with agronomic traits of interest. The Citruseq Consortium, a joint effort developed by public institutions and private companies has sequenced the genomes of 150 citrus varieties with the Illumina platform at high average coverage. Paired end genomic DNA libraries of 100 (2x) bp reads and with an average insert size of 500 bp were constructed. The haploid genome of Citrus clementine (www.phytozome.com) was used as reference genome. More than 150 Citrus genomes including rootstocks and species of mandarins, oranges, lemons, grapefruits and limes were sequenced. The consortium also generated a web portal that allows searching and sequence comparisons among approximately 8 million of gene variants and 45 billion of base pairs. Initial analyses suggest that the stored information can help unravel fundamental aspects of biological and evolutionary interest such as the origin of citrus. From the commercial standpoint this information may help to authenticate varieties, to improve marker-assisted breeding and to identify genes of major agronomic interest.