Biology Department Seminar

Rice is the most important food source for half the world’s population and is the first crop plant to be sequenced. The map based sequence has already led to the identification of genes responsible for agronomically important traits (examples are genes that affect growth habit to promote yield and photoperiod genes to extend the range of elite cultivars) to feed an expanding world population at a time of increasing restraints on agriculture.

This is one of the most accurate and complete sequences from a higher organism. The finished quality sequence covers 95% of the 389 Mb genome including virtually all of the euchromatin and two complete centromeres. It identifies 37,500 genes and contains the first centromeres to be sequenced from a plant or animal.

The map based sequence also provides an oportunity to compare a finished quality sequence with two whole genome shotgun sequences. These draft sequences of rice are shown to lack the coverage and the accurate assembly required to identify genes important for rice improvement.