Echinochloa crus-galli genome analysis provides insight into its adaptation and invasiveness as a weed.

Authors: Guo, Longbiao and Qiu, Jie and Ye, Chuyu and Jin, Gulei and Mao, Lingfeng and Zhang, Haiqiang and Yang, Xuefang and Peng, Qiong and Wang, Yingying and Jia, Lei and Lin, Zhangxiang and Li, Gengmi and Fu, Fei and Liu, Chen and Chen, Li and Shen, Enhui and Wang, Weidi and Chu, Qinjie and Wu, Dongya and Wu, Sanling and Xia, Chenyang and Zhang, Yongfei and Zhou, Xiaomao and Wang, Lifeng and Wu, Lamei and Song, Weijie and Wang, Yunfei and Shu, Qingyao and Aoki, Daisuke and Yumoto, Emi and Yokota, Takao and Miyamoto, Koji and Okada, Kazunori and Kim, Do-Soon and Cai, Daguang and Zhang, Chulong and Lou, Yonggen and Qian, Qian and Yamaguchi, Hirofumi and Yamane, Hisakazu and Kong, Chui-Hua and Timko, Michael P and Bai, Lianyang and Fan, Longjiang

Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) is a pernicious weed in agricultural fields worldwide. The molecular mechanisms underlying its success in the absence of human intervention are presently unknown. Here we report a draft genome sequence of the hexaploid species E. crus-galli, i.e., a 1.27?Gb assembly representing 90.7% of the predicted genome size. An extremely large repertoire of genes encoding cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and glutathione S-transferases associated with detoxification are found. Two gene clusters involved in the biosynthesis of an allelochemical 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIMBOA) and a phytoalexin momilactone A are found in the E. crus-galli genome, respectively. The allelochemical DIMBOA gene cluster is activated in response to co-cultivation with rice, while the phytoalexin momilactone A gene cluster specifically to infection by pathogenic Pyricularia oryzae. Our results provide a new understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the extreme adaptation of the weed.

Journal: Nature communications
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01067-5
Year: 2017

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