Publications by authors named "Christine Fosker"

Advances in genomics have expedited the improvement of several agriculturally important crops but similar efforts in wheat (Triticum spp.) have been more challenging. This is largely owing to the size and complexity of the wheat genome, and the lack of genome-assembly data for multiple wheat lines.

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Accelerating international trade and climate change make pathogen spread an increasing concern. Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the causal agent of ash dieback, is a fungal pathogen that has been moving across continents and hosts from Asian to European ash. Most European common ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) are highly susceptible to H.

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Advances in genome sequencing and assembly technologies are generating many high-quality genome sequences, but assemblies of large, repeat-rich polyploid genomes, such as that of bread wheat, remain fragmented and incomplete. We have generated a new wheat whole-genome shotgun sequence assembly using a combination of optimized data types and an assembly algorithm designed to deal with large and complex genomes. The new assembly represents >78% of the genome with a scaffold N50 of 88.

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Article Synopsis
  • Many polyploid crops lack comprehensive reverse genetic resources, unlike diploid model organisms, making it hard to study gene function.
  • Wheat, being a young polyploid species with high sequence identity among its subgenomes, can tolerate a large number of mutations, allowing researchers to catalog over 10 million mutations in nearly 3,000 mutant lines.
  • This extensive mutation dataset helps identify hidden genetic variations and offers a framework for studying other polyploid crops in plant evolution.
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