title: Genome-wide characterization of the biggest grass, bamboo, based on 10,608 putative full-length cDNA sequences.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  With the availability of rice and sorghum genome sequences and ongoing efforts to sequence genomes of other cereal and energy crops, the grass family (Poaceae) has become a model system for comparative genomics and for better understanding gene and genome evolution that underlies phenotypic and ecological divergence of plants. While the genomic resources have accumulated rapidly for almost all major lineages of grasses, bamboo remains the only large subfamily of Poaceae with little genomic information available in databases, which seriously hampers our ability to take a full advantage of the wealth of grass genomic data for effective comparative studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we report the cloning and sequencing of 10,608 putative full length cDNAs (FL-cDNAs) primarily from Moso bamboo, Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens, a large woody bamboo with the highest ecological and economic values of all bamboos. This represents the third largest FL-cDNA collection to date of all plant species, and provides the first insight into the gene and genome structures of bamboos. We developed a Moso bamboo genomic resource database that so far contained the sequences of 10,608 putative FL-cDNAs and nearly 38,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) generated in this study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis of FL-cDNA sequences show that bamboo diverged from its close relatives such as rice, wheat, and barley through an adaptive radiation. A comparative analysis of the lignin biosynthesis pathway between bamboo and rice suggested that genes encoding caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase may serve as targets for genetic manipulation of lignin content to reduce pollutants generated from bamboo pulping.
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Forestry, Wanshou Shan, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Lubin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhimin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Xuewen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Qijun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Danlin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Chuanrang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Zehui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000235:genetics; D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D008031:Lignin / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018598:Minisatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D006109:Poaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D008031:Lignin