Cassava Genomics Update: Genetic Mapping, Genome Improvement and Diversity

The Cassava Genetic Mapping Consortium
The Cassava Genomics Project (U.C. Berkeley & University of Arizona)
Next Generation Cassava Breeding (DOE Joint Genome Institute)

Manihot esculenta (Euphorbiaceae) is an agriculturally important food crop whose starchy tuberous roots provide a major source of carbohydrates for Asian, African, and South American peoples.  Modern breeding programs are currently being developed for M. esculenta and can be further augmented with the availability of improved genetic tools and genome sequence.  We present a consensus genetic map, representing 18 linkage groups, produced by The Cassava Genetic Mapping Consortium—a collaboration between East and West African, and U.S. groups—utilizing GBS technology and multiple F1 mapping populations.   The Cassava Genomics project has subsequently used this consensus genetic map to improve the draft genome sequence to produce pseudomolecules for each linkage group that incorporates over 370Mb (70%) of the current genome assembly.  In addition, our Consortium has catalogued, and made freely available, genomic variation data for a diversity panel of 300 African M. esculenta accessions.