Researchers successfully sequenced the genome of the loblolly pine, which is seven times larger than the human genome.
The findings could help lead to improved versions of the tree species, which could potentially be used as feedstock for biofuel and is considered "the most commercially important tree species in the United States," a University of California, Davis news release reported.
"It's a huge genome. But the challenge isn't just collecting all the sequence data. The problem is assembling that sequence into order," David Neale, a professor of plant sciences at the University of California, Davis, who led the loblolly pine genome project, said in the news release.
To speed up the immense gene processing job researchers used a new technique that compressed the raw sequence DNA by 100 times.
Modern genome sequencing methods look at the individual "letters" wrapped up in short fragments of DNA. The loblolly's genome consisted of 16 billion separate fragments called a "genome assembly."
"We were able to assemble the human genome, but that was close to the limit of our ability; seven times bigger was just too much," Steven Salzberg, professor of medicine and biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University, said in the news release.
"The size of the pieces of consecutive sequence that we assembled are orders of magnitude larger than what's been previously published," Neale said.
The study concluded that the genome was mostly made up of "invasive DNA elements and other DNA fragments that copied themselves around the genome," the news release reported. The research also helped pinpoint the location of pathogen fighting genes, helping researchers gain insight into how pines ward off disease.
"The fusiform rust mapping that our scientists did as part of this project provides significant information for land managers, since more than 500 million loblolly pine seedlings with these resistance genes are planted every year," Dana Nelson, the institute's project leader said in the news release. "The group selected loblolly pine for sequencing because of the relatively long history of genetic research from the institute and others on the loblolly's complex traits such as disease resistance."
"Now that we've unlocked its genetic secrets, loblolly pine will take on even greater importance as we look for new sources of biomass to drive our nation's bio-economy, and ways to increase carbon sequestration and mitigate climate change," Sonny Ramaswamy, director of USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, said in the news release.
