We present a draft genome sequence for enset (Ensete ventricosum) available via the Sequence Read Archive (accession number SRX202265) and GenBank (accession number AMZH01. Enset feeds 15 million people in Ethiopia, but is arguably the least studied African crop. Our sequence data suggest a genome size of approximately 547 megabases, similar to the 523-megabase genome of the closely related banana (Musa acuminata). At least 1.8% of the annotated M. acuminata genes are not conserved in E. ventricosum. Furthermore, enset contains genes not present in banana, including reverse transcriptases and virus-like sequences as well as a homolog of the RPP8-like resistance gene. We hope that availability of genome-wide sequence data will stimulate and accelerate research on this important but neglected crop.

We present raw sequence reads and genome assemblies derived from 17 accessions of the Ethiopian orphan crop plant enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) using the Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq platforms. Also presented is a catalogue of single-nucleotide polymorphisms inferred from the sequence data at an average density of approximately one per kilobase of genomic DNA.

We present an amended description of the bacterial species Xanthomonas vasicola to include the causative agent of banana Xanthomonas wilt, as well as strains that cause disease on Areca palm, Tripsacum grass, sugarcane, and maize. Genome-sequence data reveal that these strains all share more than 98% average nucleotide with each other and with the type strain. Our analyses and proposals should help to resolve the taxonomic confusion that surrounds some of these pathogens and help to prevent future use of invalid names. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY 4.0 International license .

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Introduction-Enset is an indigenous crop in southern and southwestern Ethiopia, with a huge potential to provide year-round food production. Starch stored in the corm and pseudostem of the plant is the main source of energy provided by this crop. Enset was fully domesticated in Ethiopia between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago and initially farmed in a system of shifting cultivation. This long history of enset cultivation has contributed to the high withinspecies diversity. Materials and methods-This paper provides an overview of past research activities and knowledge linked to enset diversity and identifies critical research gaps, which should be addressed to improve the long-term conservation and use of this diversity. Results and discussion-Studies have identified numerous landraces across the vast ensetgrowing belt in Ethiopia, with genetic diversity in a particular area related to the extent of enset cultivation by different ethnic groups and the range of agro-ecologies to which the crop is adapted. Farmers' rich knowledge of enset, accumulated over many years, plays a significant role in the characterization and maintenance of the existing genetic diversity of this crop. Farmers differentiate landraces using morphological traits, such as plant height and pseudostem size, angle of leaf orientation, and pseudostem and leaf colour. Conclusion-Enset diversity provides resilience and food security despite challenging environmental conditions, diseases or changes in land use systems.