Towards the Completion of a Set of Platinum Standard Reference Genome Sequences (PSRefSeqs) that bridge the Genetic Diversity of Cultivated Rice & its Wild Relatives

Authors

Rod A Wing

The International Oryza Map Alignment Project (IOMAP) is interested in discovering and utilizing standing natural variation from the genus Oryza to breed new varieties of rice that are higher yielding and more nutritious, but have less of an environmental footprint (i.e. rice that requires less water, fertilizer & pesticides, can grow on marginal lands and have reduced greenhouse gas emissions) – a.k.a. “Green Super Rice”. A critical component for the success of this project is to have access to platinum standard reference genomes (PSRefSeqs) that represent the genetic diversity of cultivated rice and its wild relatives. Such genomes will serve as a pan-Oryza¬genome that can be used as a template to map resequencing data from rice germplasm banks across the globe aimed at capturing virtually all genetic variation that exist across the Oryzasphere. Such information can then be used in GWAS studies and genomic selection strategies, coupled with high throughput phenotyping, and gene editing to breed the crops of the future to help solve the 2050 10-billion people question – i.e. “How do we feed our world without destroying our world”. In this workshop, I will present the status of our efforts to generate PSRefSeqs that bridge the Oryza genus.

Date of publication:
2019