Comparative Genome Analysis of Lolium-Festuca Complex Species

The Lolium-Festuca complex incorporates species from the Lolium genera and the broad leaf Fescues. Plants belonging to this complex exhibit significant phenotypic plasticity for agriculturally important traits, such as annuality/perenniality, establishment potential, growth speed, nutritional value, winter hardiness, drought tolerance and resistance to grazing. In this study we have sequenced and assembled the low copy fraction of the genomes of  Lolium westerwoldicum, Lolium multiflorum, Festuca pratensis and Lolium temulentum. We have also generated de-novo transcriptome assemblies for each species, and these have aided in the annotation of the genomic sequence.  Using this data we were able to generate annotated assemblies of the gene rich regions of the four species to complement the already sequenced Lolium perenne genome. Using these gene models we have identified orthologous genes between the species. Our dataset enabled us to perform comparative gene family analysis for CBF (C-Repeat Binding Factor) proteins, which are key regulators of cold acclimation and freezing tolerance in plants.