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Advancing crop genomics from lab to field

Nature Genetics volume 53, pages 595–601 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Crop genomics remains a key element in ensuring scientific progress to secure global food security. It has been two decades since the sequence of the first plant genome, that of Arabidopsis thaliana, was released, and soon after that the draft sequencing of the rice genome was completed. Since then, the genomes of more than 100 crops have been sequenced, plant genome research has expanded across multiple fronts and the next few years promise to bring further advances spurred by the advent of new technologies and approaches. We are likely to see continued innovations in crop genome sequencing, genetic mapping and the acquisition of multiple levels of biological data. There will be exciting opportunities to integrate genome-scale information across multiple scales of biological organization, leading to advances in our mechanistic understanding of crop biological processes, which will, in turn, provide greater impetus for translation of laboratory results to the field.

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Fig. 1: Timeline of release of genome sequences for key crop species.
Fig. 2: Maps of genome-wide functional genomic and epigenomic information.
Fig. 3: Multiple levels of functional genomic, epigenomic organismal and ecosystem information.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Young Choi, R. Gutaker and A. Kurbidaeva for helpful discussions, and R. Rahni for graphical support. The work is funded by grants from the US National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program IOS (grant no. 15-46218), the Zegar Family Foundation (grant no. A168) and the New York University Abu Dhabi Research Institute (grant no. 1205H) (M.D.P.).

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  1. Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Michael D. Purugganan

  2. Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Michael D. Purugganan

  3. Bayer Crop Science, Chesterfield, MO, USA

    Scott A. Jackson

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M.D.P. conceived the paper, and wrote it with S.A.J.

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Correspondence to Michael D. Purugganan.

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Purugganan, M.D., Jackson, S.A. Advancing crop genomics from lab to field. Nat Genet 53, 595–601 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00866-3

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