Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees

Elizabeth Sollars; Andrea Louise Harper; Laura Kelly; Christine Sambles; Ricardo Ramirez-Gonzalez; David Swarbreck; Gemy Kaithakottil; Endymion Cooper; Cristobal Uauy; Lenka Havlickova; Gemma Worswick; David Studholme; Jasmine Zohren; Deborah Salmon; Bernardo Clavijo; Yi Li; Zhesi He; Alison Fellgett; Lea McKinney; Lene Nielsen; Gerry Douglas; Erik Kjaer; Allan Downie; David Boshier; Steve Lee; Jo Clark; Murray Grant; Ian Bancroft; Mario Caccamo; Richard Buggs

doi:10.1038/nature20786

Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees

Elizabeth Sollars, Andrea Louise Harper, Laura Kelly, Christine Sambles, Ricardo Ramirez-Gonzalez, David Swarbreck, Gemy Kaithakottil, Endymion Cooper, Cristobal Uauy, Lenka Havlickova, Gemma Worswick, David Studholme, Jasmine Zohren, Deborah Salmon, Bernardo Clavijo, Yi Li, Zhesi He, Alison Fellgett, Lea McKinney, Lene NielsenGerry Douglas, Erik Kjaer, Allan Downie, David Boshier, Steve Lee, Jo Clark, Murray Grant, Ian Bancroft, Mario Caccamo, Richard Buggs

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Ash trees (genus Fraxinus, family Oleaceae) are widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but are being devastated in Europe by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, causing ash dieback, and in North America by the herbivorous beetle Agrilus planipennis. Here we sequence the genome of a low-heterozygosity Fraxinus excelsior tree from Gloucestershire, UK, annotating 38,852 protein-coding genes of which 25% appear ash specific when compared with the genomes of ten other plant species. Analyses of paralogous genes suggest a whole-genome duplication shared with olive (Olea europaea, Oleaceae). We also re-sequence 37 F. excelsior trees from Europe, finding evidence for apparent long-term decline in effective population size. Using our reference sequence, we re-analyse association transcriptomic data, yielding improved markers for reduced susceptibility to ash dieback. Surveys of these markers in British populations suggest that reduced susceptibility to ash dieback may be more widespread in Great Britain than in Denmark. We also present evidence that susceptibility of trees to H. fraxineus is associated with their iridoid glycoside levels. This rapid, integrated, multidisciplinary research response to an emerging health threat in a non-model organism opens the way for mitigation of the epidemic.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	212-216
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	541
Issue number	7636
Early online date	26 Dec 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20786
Publication status	Published - 12 Jan 2017

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© 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature.
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Sollars, E., Harper, A. L., Kelly, L., Sambles, C., Ramirez-Gonzalez, R., Swarbreck, D., Kaithakottil, G., Cooper, E., Uauy, C., Havlickova, L., Worswick, G., Studholme, D., Zohren, J., Salmon, D., Clavijo, B., Li, Y., He, Z., Fellgett, A., McKinney, L., ... Buggs, R. (2017). Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees. Nature, 541(7636), 212-216. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20786

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title = "Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees",

abstract = "Ash trees (genus Fraxinus, family Oleaceae) are widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but are being devastated in Europe by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, causing ash dieback, and in North America by the herbivorous beetle Agrilus planipennis. Here we sequence the genome of a low-heterozygosity Fraxinus excelsior tree from Gloucestershire, UK, annotating 38,852 protein-coding genes of which 25% appear ash specific when compared with the genomes of ten other plant species. Analyses of paralogous genes suggest a whole-genome duplication shared with olive (Olea europaea, Oleaceae). We also re-sequence 37 F. excelsior trees from Europe, finding evidence for apparent long-term decline in effective population size. Using our reference sequence, we re-analyse association transcriptomic data, yielding improved markers for reduced susceptibility to ash dieback. Surveys of these markers in British populations suggest that reduced susceptibility to ash dieback may be more widespread in Great Britain than in Denmark. We also present evidence that susceptibility of trees to H. fraxineus is associated with their iridoid glycoside levels. This rapid, integrated, multidisciplinary research response to an emerging health threat in a non-model organism opens the way for mitigation of the epidemic.",

author = "Elizabeth Sollars and Harper, {Andrea Louise} and Laura Kelly and Christine Sambles and Ricardo Ramirez-Gonzalez and David Swarbreck and Gemy Kaithakottil and Endymion Cooper and Cristobal Uauy and Lenka Havlickova and Gemma Worswick and David Studholme and Jasmine Zohren and Deborah Salmon and Bernardo Clavijo and Yi Li and Zhesi He and Alison Fellgett and Lea McKinney and Lene Nielsen and Gerry Douglas and Erik Kjaer and Allan Downie and David Boshier and Steve Lee and Jo Clark and Murray Grant and Ian Bancroft and Mario Caccamo and Richard Buggs",

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Sollars, E, Harper, AL, Kelly, L, Sambles, C, Ramirez-Gonzalez, R, Swarbreck, D, Kaithakottil, G, Cooper, E, Uauy, C, Havlickova, L, Worswick, G, Studholme, D, Zohren, J, Salmon, D, Clavijo, B, Li, Y , He, Z, Fellgett, A, McKinney, L, Nielsen, L, Douglas, G, Kjaer, E, Downie, A, Boshier, D, Lee, S, Clark, J, Grant, M, Bancroft, I, Caccamo, M & Buggs, R 2017, 'Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees', Nature, vol. 541, no. 7636, pp. 212-216. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20786

TY - JOUR

T1 - Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees

AU - Sollars, Elizabeth

AU - Harper, Andrea Louise

AU - Kelly, Laura

AU - Sambles, Christine

AU - Ramirez-Gonzalez, Ricardo

AU - Swarbreck, David

AU - Kaithakottil, Gemy

AU - Cooper, Endymion

AU - Uauy, Cristobal

AU - Havlickova, Lenka

AU - Worswick, Gemma

AU - Studholme, David

AU - Zohren, Jasmine

AU - Salmon, Deborah

AU - Clavijo, Bernardo

AU - Li, Yi

AU - He, Zhesi

AU - Fellgett, Alison

AU - McKinney, Lea

AU - Nielsen, Lene

AU - Douglas, Gerry

AU - Kjaer, Erik

AU - Downie, Allan

AU - Boshier, David

AU - Lee, Steve

AU - Clark, Jo

AU - Grant, Murray

AU - Bancroft, Ian

AU - Caccamo, Mario

AU - Buggs, Richard

PY - 2017/1/12

Y1 - 2017/1/12

N2 - Ash trees (genus Fraxinus, family Oleaceae) are widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but are being devastated in Europe by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, causing ash dieback, and in North America by the herbivorous beetle Agrilus planipennis. Here we sequence the genome of a low-heterozygosity Fraxinus excelsior tree from Gloucestershire, UK, annotating 38,852 protein-coding genes of which 25% appear ash specific when compared with the genomes of ten other plant species. Analyses of paralogous genes suggest a whole-genome duplication shared with olive (Olea europaea, Oleaceae). We also re-sequence 37 F. excelsior trees from Europe, finding evidence for apparent long-term decline in effective population size. Using our reference sequence, we re-analyse association transcriptomic data, yielding improved markers for reduced susceptibility to ash dieback. Surveys of these markers in British populations suggest that reduced susceptibility to ash dieback may be more widespread in Great Britain than in Denmark. We also present evidence that susceptibility of trees to H. fraxineus is associated with their iridoid glycoside levels. This rapid, integrated, multidisciplinary research response to an emerging health threat in a non-model organism opens the way for mitigation of the epidemic.

AB - Ash trees (genus Fraxinus, family Oleaceae) are widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but are being devastated in Europe by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, causing ash dieback, and in North America by the herbivorous beetle Agrilus planipennis. Here we sequence the genome of a low-heterozygosity Fraxinus excelsior tree from Gloucestershire, UK, annotating 38,852 protein-coding genes of which 25% appear ash specific when compared with the genomes of ten other plant species. Analyses of paralogous genes suggest a whole-genome duplication shared with olive (Olea europaea, Oleaceae). We also re-sequence 37 F. excelsior trees from Europe, finding evidence for apparent long-term decline in effective population size. Using our reference sequence, we re-analyse association transcriptomic data, yielding improved markers for reduced susceptibility to ash dieback. Surveys of these markers in British populations suggest that reduced susceptibility to ash dieback may be more widespread in Great Britain than in Denmark. We also present evidence that susceptibility of trees to H. fraxineus is associated with their iridoid glycoside levels. This rapid, integrated, multidisciplinary research response to an emerging health threat in a non-model organism opens the way for mitigation of the epidemic.

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DO - 10.1038/nature20786

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JF - Nature

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ER -

Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees

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Andrea Louise Harper

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Genome sequence and genetic diversity of European ash trees

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