The "Queen of Fruits" mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) produces commercially important fruits with desirable taste of flesh and pericarp rich in xanthones with medicinal properties. To date, only limited knowledge is available on the cytogenetics and genome sequences of a common variety of mangosteen (Abu Bakar et al., 2016 [1]). Here, we report the first single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing data from whole genome sequencing of mangosteen of Mesta variety. Raw reads of the SMRT sequencing project can be obtained from SRA database with the accession numbers SRX2718652 until SRX2718659.
The tribe Aquilarieae of the family Thymelaeaceae consists of two genera, Aquilaria and Gyrinops, with a total of 30 species, distributed from northeast India, through southeast Asia and the south of China, to Papua New Guinea. They are an important botanical resource for fragrant agarwood, a prized product derived from injured or infected stems of these species. The aim of this study was to estimate the genome size of selected Aquilaria species and comprehend the evolutionary history of Aquilarieae speciation through molecular phylogeny. Five non-coding chloroplast DNA regions and a nuclear region were sequenced from 12 Aquilaria and three Gyrinops species. Phylogenetic trees constructed using combined chloroplast DNA sequences revealed relationships of the studied 15 members in Aquilarieae, while nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences showed a paraphyletic relationship between Aquilaria species from Indochina and Malesian. We exposed, for the first time, the estimated divergence time for Aquilarieae speciation, which was speculated to happen during the Miocene Epoch. The ancestral split and biogeographic pattern of studied species were discussed. Results showed no large variation in the 2C-values for the five Aquilaria species (1.35-2.23 pg). Further investigation into the genome size may provide additional information regarding ancestral traits and its evolution history.
Chromosome identification is essential for linking sequence and chromosomal maps, verifying sequence assemblies, showing structural variations and tracking inheritance or recombination of chromosomes and chromosomal segments during evolution and breeding programs. Unfortunately, identification of individual chromosomes and chromosome arms has been a major challenge for some economically important crop species with a near-continuous chromosome size range and similar morphology. Here, we developed oligonucleotide-based chromosome-specific probes that enabled us to establish a reference chromosome identification system for oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq., 2n = 32). Massive oligonucleotide sequence pools were anchored to individual chromosome arms using dual and triple fluorescent in situ hybridization (EgOligoFISH). Three fluorescently tagged probe libraries were developed to contain, in total 52,506 gene-rich single-copy 47-mer oligonucleotides spanning each 0.2-0.5 Mb across strategically placed chromosome regions. They generated 19 distinct FISH signals and together with rDNA probes enabled identification of all 32 E. guineensis chromosome arms. The probes were able to identify individual homoeologous chromosome regions in the related Arecaceae palm species: American oil palm (Elaeis oleifera), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and coconut (Cocos nucifera) showing the comparative organization and concerted evolution of genomes in the Arecaceae. The oligonucleotide probes developed here provide a valuable approach to chromosome arm identification and allow tracking chromosome transfer in hybridization and breeding programs in oil palm, as well as comparative studies within Arecaceae.