Plant & Animal Genomes XV Conference

January 13-17, 2007
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Brassica Genome Sequencing: Applications For Australian Canola Improvement

Jacqueline Batley¹ , Megan Vardy¹ , Xi Li^1,2 , Jatinder Kaur¹ , Geraldine AC Lim^1,2 , Timothy Erwin^1,2,3 , Erica Jewell^1,2 , Christopher G Love^1,2 , Alison Ling¹ , Sukhjiwan Kaur¹ , German C Spangenberg^1,2,3 , David Edwards^1,2,3

¹  Plant Biotechnology Centre, Primary Industries Research Victoria, Department of Primary Industries, Victorian AgriBiosciences Centre, 1 Park Drive, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia

²  Victorian Bioinformatics Consortium, Plant Biotechnology Centre, Primary Industries Research Victoria, Department of Primary Industries, Victorian AgriBiosciences Centre, 1 Park Drive, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia

³  Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, Plant Biotechnology Centre, Primary Industries Research Victoria, Department of Primary Industries, Victorian AgriBiosciences Centre, 1 Park Drive, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia

Over the last five years, Australia produced an average of 1.68 million tonnes of canola per year. However, the dry Australian climate and evolution of virulent fungal pathogens such as Leptosphaeria maculans pose a constant threat to production. There is significant investment in canola germplasm enhancement both in Australia and worldwide to mitigate the risks posed by drought and disease as well as to improve the agronomic potential for this important oilseed crop. The implementation of marker assisted breeding strategies and the development of advanced transgenic lines are seen as significant mechanisms for canola improvement. Access to genomic resources are key to the successful implementation of molecular breeding and transgenic approaches for crop germplasm enhancement, and in January 2003, a coordinated multinational effort to completely sequence the Brassica genome was established. The ca. 550 Mb genome of Brassica rapa subspecies pekinensis (Brassica A genome) was chosen for sequencing due to its relatively small size and the availability of genetic resources. Phase 1 of this project (BAC end sequencing) has now been successfully completed and significant progress has been achieved for Phase 2 (Seed BAC sequencing, chromosome allocation and sequencing). Australia is committed to sequence chromosome R7, and progress is underway using a combination of traditional Sanger paired end sequencing and new pyrosequencing methods. The results of this project are already accelerating Australian Brassica improvement programs through the identification of candidate genes and molecular genetic markers for disease resistance, and further rapid advances are expected as the genome sequencing progresses.