Barley remains dated to the dawn of agriculture have been found at several archaeological sites 1,2 . In addition to indications that barley was an important food crop, recent excavations have fuelled speculation that beverages from fermented grains may have motivated early Neolithic hunter-gatherers to erect some of humankind's oldest monuments 3,4 . Moreover, brewing beer may also have played a role in the eastward spread of the crop after its initial domestication in the Fertile Crescent 5,6 . Since 2012, both genetic research and crop improvement in barley have benefited from a partly ordered draft sequence assembly 7 . This community resource has underpinned gene isolation 8,9 and population genomic studies 10 . However, these and other efforts have also revealed limitations of the current draft assembly. The limitations are often direct consequences of two characteristic genomic features: the extreme abundance of repetitive elements, and the severely reduced frequency of meiotic recombination in pericentromeric regions 11 .These factors have limited the contiguity of whole-genome assemblies to kilobase-sized sequences originating from low-copy regions of the genome. Thus, a detailed investigation of the composition of the repetitive fraction of the genome-including expanded gene families-and of the distribution of targets of selection and crop improvement in (genetically defined) pericentromeric regions has been beyond reach.Here we present a map-based reference sequence of the barley genome including the first comprehensively ordered assembly of the pericentromeric regions of a Triticeae genome. The resource highlights a conspicuous distinction between distal and proximal regions of chromosomes that is reflected by the intranuclear chromatin organization. Moreover, chromosomal compartments are differentiated by an exponential gradient of gene density and recombination rate, striking contrasts in the distribution of retrotransposon families, and distinct patterns of genetic diversity.Cereal grasses of the Triticeae tribe have been the major food source in temperate regions since the dawn of agriculture. Their large genomes are characterized by a high content of repetitive elements and large pericentromeric regions that are virtually devoid of meiotic recombination. Here we present a high-quality reference genome assembly for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). We use chromosome conformation capture mapping to derive the linear order of sequences across the pericentromeric space and to investigate the spatial organization of chromatin in the nucleus at megabase resolution. The composition of genes and repetitive elements differs between distal and proximal regions. Gene family analyses reveal lineage-specific duplications of genes involved in the transport of nutrients to developing seeds and the mobilization of carbohydrates in grains. We demonstrate the importance of the barley reference sequence for breeding by inspecting the genomic partitioning of sequence variation in modern elite germplasm, highlightin...

Lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.) is the most recently domesticated crop in major agricultural cultivation. Its seeds are high in protein and dietary fibre, but low in oil and starch. Medical and dietetic studies have shown that consuming lupin-enriched food has significant health benefits. We report the draft assembly from a whole genome shotgun sequencing dataset for this legume species with 26.9x coverage of the genome, which is predicted to contain 57,807 genes. Analysis of the annotated genes with metabolic pathways provided a partial understanding of some key features of lupin, such as the amino acid profile of storage proteins in seeds. Furthermore, we applied the NGS-based RAD-sequencing technology to obtain 8,244 sequence-defined markers for anchoring the genomic sequences. A total of 4,214 scaffolds from the genome sequence assembly were aligned into the genetic map. The combination of the draft assembly and a sequence-defined genetic map made it possible to locate and study functional genes of agronomic interest. The identification of co-segregating SNP markers, scaffold sequences and gene annotation facilitated the identification of a candidate R gene associated with resistance to the major lupin disease anthracnose. We demonstrated that the combination of medium-depth genome sequencing and a high-density genetic linkage map by application of NGS technology is a cost-effective approach to generating genome sequence data and a large number of molecular markers to study the genomics, genetics and functional genes of lupin, and to apply them to molecular plant breeding. This strategy does not require prior genome knowledge, which potentiates its application to a wide range of non-model species.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a cereal grass mainly used as animal fodder and raw material for the malting industry. The map-based reference genome sequence of barley cv. ‘Morex’ was constructed by the International Barley Genome Sequencing Consortium (IBSC) using hierarchical shotgun sequencing. Here, we report the experimental and computational procedures to (i) sequence and assemble more than 80,000 bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones along the minimum tiling path of a genome-wide physical map, (ii) find and validate overlaps between adjacent BACs, (iii) construct 4,265 non-redundant sequence scaffolds representing clusters of overlapping BACs, and (iv) order and orient these BAC clusters along the seven barley chromosomes using positional information provided by dense genetic maps, an optical map and chromosome conformation capture sequencing (Hi-C). Integrative access to these sequence and mapping resources is provided by the barley genome explorer (BARLEX).

UDP-d-glucuronate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.35) catalyzes the synthesis of UDP-d-xylose from UDP-d-glucuronate in an essentially irreversible reaction that is believed to commit glycosyl residues to heteroxylan and xyloglucan biosynthesis. Four members of the barley (Hordeum vulgare) UDP-d-glucuronate decarboxylase gene family, designated HvUXS1 to HvUXS4, have been cloned and characterized. Barley HvUXS1 appears to be a cytosolic enzyme, while the others are predicted to be membrane-bound proteins with single transmembrane helices. Heterologous expression of a barley HvUXS1 cDNA in Escherichia coli yields a soluble enzyme that converts UDP-d-glucuronate to UDP-d-xylose, is associated with a single molecule of bound NAD+, and is subject to feedback inhibition by UDP-d-xylose. Quantitative PCR shows that the HvUXS1 mRNA is most abundant among the 4 HvUXS genes, accounting for more than 80% of total HvUXS transcripts in most of the tissues examined. The abundance of HvUXS1 mRNA is 10-fold higher in mature roots and stems than in leaves, developing grains, or floral tissues. Transcriptional activities of HvUXS2 and HvUXS4 genes are relatively high in mature roots, coleoptiles, and stems compared with root tips, leaves, and floral tissues, while HvUXS3 mRNA is low in all tissues. In barley leaf sections, levels of the most abundant mRNA, encoding HvUXS1, reflect the amount of soluble enzymic protein and activity. In selected tissues where HvUXS1 transcript levels are high, cell walls have higher arabinoxylan contents.