Sequencing analysis of 20,000 full-length cDNA clones from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Abstract

Cassava is the most important tuber carbohydrate source for approximately 1 billion people in the world particularly among countries of the tropics and sub-tropics. Because of its remarkable tolerance to abiotic stresses it is grown in marginal, low fertility acidic soils. In order to understand the regulatory networks involved in stress response and to detect candidate genes suited for the improvement of cassava cultivars, a library of 20000 full-length cDNAs from cassava plants under various abiotic stresses was sequenced and assembled. This resulted in 6355 contigs and 9026 singletons that were further grouped into 10577 scaffolds. The annotations of these sequences such as gene function and structure (GO terms, metabolic pathway map and UTR) led to the identification of stress-related pathways. Moreover the annotated features of these transcripts will be an important resource for the correct annotation of genes in the upcoming cassava genome.