The Genome of Sesamum indicum L

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L., 2n = 26) belongs to the Pedaliaceae family and is one of the highest oil-content crops. The Sesame Genome Working Group (SGWG) initiated the Sesame Genome Project in 2010 and fulfilled the whole project in 2015 (Data not published yet). The fine genome of S. indicum L., var. Yuzhi 11 (PRJNA74261) has been constructed using the complicated ‘Illumina + Roche 454 + BAC paired-end (ABI3730) + PacBio’ sequencing platform and the ‘SNP genetic map + BAC-FISH physical map + Optical map’ assisted assembly method. The final genome assembly reaches to 335.9Mb, occupying 94.8% of the estimated 354Mb genome using K-mer. In the final genome map, the number of total scaffolds is 3,734, most of which are distributed into the 13 chromosomes of sesame karyotype. The number of N50 scaffolds is 18 and the N50 scaffold size is 6.38Mb. The number of N90 scaffolds is 886 and the N90 scaffold size is 19.6Kb. The largest scaffold covers 14.1Mb. 31,462 gene models were found in the genome. With the aid of genome re-sequencing, association mapping and QTL mapping methods, we located 125 markers, 27 QTLs and 2 functional genes related to the key traits of yield, oil and protein contents, seed coat color and resistance to Fusarium wilt disease in the fine sesame genome. 13 elite gene clusters related to the above key agronomic traits are revealed with the distribution into 8 chromosomes of S. indicum L..