Genome Sequence of Lobolly Pine

Scientists have just successfully mapped the genomic sequence for a very important tree to Americans - the Lobolly pine. The tree has been used for many years in the United States and in other countries for paper products and is now being looked at for using in biofuels. This mapping is a huge accomplishment because it is now the largest genome sequenced to date with over 22 million base pairs. Researchers were able to do this because of new methods that have been developed so that larger scale genomes are able to be successfully put together. The new method had to do with putting overlapping parts of the sequence in larger chunks and then throwing away the redundant information. This cut down on the time that it took to process immensely. By mapping this genome, scientists are hopeful that they will be able to pinpoint the location of genes that fight pathogens in these trees, along with other useful information relating to their genome sequence.

While typically something like this wouldn't interest me, since botany isn't my field of study, I found this article interesting. It has to do with more than just Lobolly pines because the methods that scientists used for mapping the genome of this tree can be used for mapping other genomes too. This is quite exciting that the gene mapping is progressing even as we speak. Scientists are constantly coming up with more efficient ways of sequencing genes and I am sure that it will be beneficial for everyone. 

Link for original article: http://www.sci-news.com/genetics/science-genome-loblolly-pine-01813.html

Link for additional information: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2014/03/20/loblolly.pine.genome.largest.ever.sequenced