Science and Technology Daily News (reporter Shi Junbin correspondent Liu Yuhan) reporter learned from Xi'an Jiaotong University on September 13 that the research team led by Professor Ye Kai of the School of Automation of the School of Telecommunications and Yang Xiaofei, Associate Professor of the School of Computer Science, completely assembled the Arabidopsis genome, achieving only two gaps and a base accuracy of 99.9999% of the high-quality Arabidopsis thaliana genome Col-XJTU, higher than the current reference genome. The relevant research results have recently been published in the international journal "Journal of Genome, Proteomics and Bioinformatics".
The story of deciphering the genetic code of life begins with the "Human Genome Project" that emerged in the 20th century, which, along with the Manhattan Atomic Bomb Project and the Apollo Moon Landing Program, has been called the "Three Major Projects" in the history of natural science. The strategies, ideas and techniques established in the study of humans constitute a new discipline in the life sciences, genomics, which studies microorganisms, plants and other animals.
Arabidopsis thaliana research belongs to the category of plant genome research, Arabidopsis thaliana because of its small plant, easy to reproduce, short growth period and other characteristics, for genetic research to provide great convenience, in the field of plant research known as "fruit flies in plants", by scientists selected as a model plant. At present, half of the world's botanists and nearly 10,000 laboratories are conducting genetic analysis, gene cloning and functional genome research on Arabidopsis thaliana, and the research breakthroughs made important contributions to increasing food yields, crop stress resistance, and plant protection.
The information and biomedical cross-cutting team of Xi'an Jiaotong University designed a hybrid sequencing technology that comprehensively utilizes the advantages of different sequencing technologies by means of artificial intelligence algorithm development and biomedical big data mining, and proposed a new sequence replacement strategy with bacterial artificial chromosomes as anchor points, realizing the high-quality Arabidopsis genome Col-XJTU with only two gaps left. Wang Bo, a member of the research team, pointed out that there are 5 chromosomes in Arabidopsis thaliana, and the Col-XJTU genome has completed the notchless assembly of the centromeres of chromosomes 3, 4 and 5, and the assembly of most of the centromeres of chromosomes 1 and 2.
The base accuracy and structural accuracy of the genome are indicators for assessing the quality of the reference genome. Ye Kai, chief scientist of the information and biomedical intersection team of Xi'an Jiaotong University, told reporters that the Col-XJTU genome is named after the Colombian ecological type and the English abbreviation of Xi'an Jiaotong University, highlighting the important contribution of the research team of Xi'an Jiaotong University in Arabidopsis thaliana gene research and world plant genomics research.
Source: Science and Technology Daily