The Sesame Genome Project and Sesame Genome Sequencing

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L., 2n = 26) belongs to the Pedaliaceae family and is one of the highest oil-content crops. The genome size of S. indicum is estimated to be 354Mb, similar to Oryza sativa L. Considering the high oil content and quality with the small genome size, sesame is believed as the “model oil crop” for exploring biochemical fatty acid synthesis. The Sesame Genome Project was conceived in 2009. According to the current progress, all the goals of the SGP will be completed by March 2014. In the present genome assembly, the number of total scaffolds is 3,653 and the bases in large scaffold (>1,000 bps) are 231Mb. The number of N90 scafflold is 64 and the N90 scaffold size covers 417Kb. Furthermore, 29,798 gene models were found in the genome. Average gene length reaches to 1.2Kb and average GC content is 45%. 11,841 genes have been given GO annotations. In order to anchor the superscaffolds to 13 chromosomes, we have established a high-density linkage map with 653 SSR, SNP, AFLP and RSAMPL markers falling into 14 linkage groups; meanwhile, a physical map carried with more than one hundred BAC clones has been established using BAC-FISH and rehybridization techniques. To clarify the key biological traits and processes in sesame, such as high oil yield and quality, and high resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, we are performing the related and functional genomics analyses based on the genome sequence.