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Chromosome-level genome assemblies of nine tetraploid and two diploid wild Oryza species provide insights into genome evolution within the genus Oryza and the potential for crop improvement and neodomestication.

Agricultural rice production germinates seeds and establishes seedlings underwater. Now a trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) phosphatase, OsTPP7, is shown to enhance anaerobic germination tolerance by increasing T6P turnover and thus starch mobilization.

By assembling the genome of Cardamine hirsuta and conducting comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses, a study reveals the prevalent role of transcription factors and gene duplication in morphological evolution.

Pan-genomes provide useful resources for evolutionary studies, functional genomics and breeding of cultivated plants. Here, the authors report a new rice pan-genome including 73 Asian rice and two wild relatives (Oryza rufipogon and O. punctata), and reveal the prevalence and scale of large inversions across the pan-genome.

The genome of the biofuel crop switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) reveals climate–gene–biomass associations that underlie adaptation in nature and will facilitate improvements of the yield of this crop for bioenergy production.

The Eucalyptus grandis genome has been sequenced, revealing the greatest number of tandem duplications of any plant genome sequenced so far, and the highest diversity of genes for specialized metabolites that act as chemical defence and provide unique pharmaceutical oils; genome sequencing of the sister species E. globulus and a set of inbred E. grandis tree genomes reveals dynamic genome evolution and hotspots of inbreeding depression.

Scott Jackson, Jeremy Schmutz, Phillip McClean and colleagues report the genome sequence of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and resequenced wild individuals and landraces from Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools, showing that common bean underwent two independent domestications.

Date palm is an important fruit crop in the Middle East and North Africa. Here, the authors report an improved genome assembly of this species and perform GWAS mapping of sex determining region and 21 fruit traits using high density SNP data generated from re-sequencing of the mapping population.

An international consortium reports the genomic sequence for ten Drosophila species, and compares them to two other previously published Drosophila species. These data are invaluable for drawing evolutionary conclusions across an entire phylogeny of species at once.

Drought is a major factor limiting crop productivity. Here, via eQTL analysis and comparative genomics, the authors show compensatory evolution between trans-regulatory loci and transcription factor binding sites that shape the drought response networks in the model C4 grass Panicum hallii.

The genome sequence of segmental allotetraploid peanut suggests that diversity generated by genetic deletions and homeologous recombination helped to favor the domestication of Arachis hypogaea over its diploid relatives.

This description of the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome includes a newly discovered sex chromosome. Interactions among sex, autosomes and environment show direct effects on Sphagnum growth which influences global carbon sequestration.

Chromosome-scale genome assembly of the South African bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivar Kariega facilitates the cloning of the stripe rust resistance gene Yr27.

The genome sequence of the African oil palm, the main source of oil production, is used to predict at least 34,802 genes, including oil biosynthesis genes; comparison with the draft sequence of the South American oil palm reveals that the two species may have diverged in the New World and that segmental duplications of chromosome arms define the palaeotetraploid origin of palm trees.

This paper reports the genome sequence of domesticated tomato, a major crop plant, and a draft sequence for its closest wild relative; comparative genomics reveal very little divergence between the two genomes but some important differences with the potato genome, another important food crop in the genus Solanum.