Genomes of AD2 Hai7124 & improved AD1 TM-1 published (3/18/19)

New genome data of  AD2 Hai7124 and an improved assembly and annotation of AD1 TM-1, contributed by Zhejiang University, China, Published in Nature Genetics on 18 March 2019. Data available at CottonGen Download, CottonGen JBrowse and CottonGen BLAST.

Publication Title: Gossypium barbadense and Gossypium hirsutum genomes provide insights into the origin and evolution of allotetraploid cotton

Authors: Yan Hu, Jiedan Chen, Lei Fang, Zhiyuan Zhang, Wei Ma, Yongchao Niu, Longzhen Ju Jieqiong Deng, Ting Zhao, Jinmin Lian, Kobi Baruch, David Fang, Xia Liu, Yong-ling Ruan,  Mehboob-ur Rahman, Jinlei Han, Kai Wang, Qiong Wang, Huaitong Wu, Gaofu Mei, Yihao Zang, Zegang Han, Chenyu Xu, Weijuan Shen, Duofeng Yang, Zhanfeng Si, Fan Dai, Liangfeng Zou, Fei Huang, Yulin Bai, Yugao Zhang, Avital Brodt, Hilla Ben-Hamo, Xiefei Zhu, Baoliang Zhou, Xueying Guan, Shuijin Zhu, Xiaoya Chen and Tianzhen Zhang

Abstract: Allotetraploid cotton is an economically important natural-fiber-producing crop worldwide. After polyploidization, Gossypium hirsutum L. evolved to produce a higher fiber yield and to better survive harsh environments than Gossypium barbadense , which produces superior-quality fibers. The global genetic and molecular bases for these interspecies divergences were unknown.  Here we report high-quality de novo–assembled genomes for these two cultivated allotetraploid species with pronounced  improvement in repetitive-DNA-enriched centromeric regions. Whole-genome comparative analyses revealed that species- specific alterations in gene expression, structural variations and expanded gene families were responsible for speciation and the evolutionary history of these species. These findings help to elucidate the evolution of cotton genomes and their domestica- tion history. The information generated not only should enable breeders to improve fiber quality and resilience to ever-changing environmental conditions but also can be translated to other crops for better understanding of their domestication history and use in improvement.