The Maize Genome Sequencing Consortium publishes the B73 Reference Sequence today in Science

The Maize Genome Sequencing Consortium publishes the B73 Reference Sequence today in Science. AGI played a leading role by selecting and validating a minimum tiling path of 16,000 BAC clones across the maize genome.

The Maize Genome Sequencing Consortium published the B73 Reference Sequence in Science November 19th, 2009. AGI played a leading role in the project by selecting and validating a minimum tiling path of 16,000 BAC clones across the maize genome and developing a set of 26,000 full-length cDNA sequences. The tile path was sequenced by the Washington University Genome Center. Individual BAC assemblies were sequence improved and subsequently finished at WUGC, AGI and CSHL. AGI merged all individual BAC sequences to establish a set of 10 pseudomolecules that are representative of the 10 chromosomes of maize. These pseudomolecules served as the template for all subsequent analyses of the genome. Automated annotation of the genome was performed by CSHL followed by topic specific annotations as described in the companion papers also published today in PLoS Genetics, PNAS, and Plant Physiology.