Beenome100

Bees comprise over 4000 species in North America and 20,000 species globally and are vital pollinators of flowering plants in natural and agricultural landscapes. The Beenome100 project is a collaborative effort that aims to sequence 100+ reference quality genomes for bees, focusing on species that occur in the United States of America. Species have been selected based on taxonomic diversity, geographic area, conservation status, agricultural importance, biological diversity, and other factors. The data will be used to improve knowledge of U.S. bees at the genomic level and to facilitate research in bee management, health, and conservation. The project is being led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS).