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Updated: Sep 25, 2025
Optimization and Comparative Analysis of Plant Organellar DNA Enrichment Methods Suitable for Next-generation Sequencing
Published on: July 28, 2017
Long-read and chromosome-scale assembly of the hexaploid wheat genome achieves high resolution for research and
Jean-Marc Aury1, Stefan Engelen1, Benjamin Istace1
1Génomique Métabolique, Genoscope, Institut François Jacob, CEA, CNRS, Univ Evry, Université Paris-Saclay, 91057 Evry, France.
Background:
The sequencing of the wheat (Triticum aestivum) genome has been a methodological challenge for many years owing to its large size (15.5 Gb), repeat content, and hexaploidy. Many initiatives aiming at obtaining a reference genome of cultivar Chinese Spring have been launched in the past years and it was achieved in 2018 as the result of a huge effort to combine short-read sequencing with many other resources. Reference-quality genome assemblies were then produced for other accessions, but the rapid evolution of sequencing technologies offers opportunities to reach high-quality standards at lower cost.
Results:
Here, we report on an optimized procedure based on long reads produced on the Oxford Nanopore Technology PromethION device to assemble the genome of the French bread wheat cultivar Renan.
Conclusions:
We provide the most contiguous chromosome-scale assembly of a bread wheat genome to date. Coupled with an annotation based on RNA-sequencing data, this resource will be valuable for the crop community and will facilitate the rapid selection of agronomically important traits. We also provide a framework to generate high-quality assemblies of complex genomes using ONT.
