Three papers summarizing the sequencing, assembly and evolutionary analysis of the loblolly pine genome have been published last week. At 23 Gb (yes, billion bases!), the loblolly pine genome is seven times larger than the human genome. We are talking of course of haploid genomes; most cells of loblolly pine
have twice as much nuclear DNA.. I couldn’t be more excited to begin working with this phenomenally large genome!

The main paper has been published in Genome Biology, and two companion papers came out in Genetics.

Decoding the massive genome of loblolly pine using haploid DNA and novel assembly strategies. Genome Biology, 2014; 15 (3): R59 DOI: 10.1186/gb-2014-15-3-r59

Unique Features of the Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) Megagenome Revealed Through Sequence Annotation. Genetics, 2014; 196 (3): 891 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.113.159996

Sequencing and Assembly of the 22-Gb Loblolly Pine Genome. Genetics, 2014; 196 (3): 875 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.113.159715

Congratulations to our ESSM faculty Carol Loopstra and Dr. Tom Byram, who have been involved in the consortium leading this effort, for this outstanding achievement!

The publication of the loblolly genome has been reported by a number of media outlets. You can find a couple of nice pieces on the project at ScienceDaily and CBS News