Scientific Publication

Sequencing wild and cultivated cassava and related species reveals extensive interspecific hybridization and genetic diversity

Abstract

Cassava provides calories and nutrition for more than half a billion people. It was domesticated by native Amazonian peoples and is now grown in tropical regions worldwide. Here the authors provide a high-quality genome assembly for cassava with improved contiguity, linkage, and completeness; almost 97% of genes are anchored to chromosomes. This work is part of the “Next Generation Cassava Breeding Project” which is supported by the UK Department for International Development, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation