Dichanthelium oligosanthes cultivar:Kellogg 1175 Genome sequencing and assembly

Dichanthelium oligosanthes is a C3 panicoid grass that shares recent common ancestors with Sorghum bicolorand Setaria viridis, which represent two lineages that independently evolved C4 photosynthesis. Thus, D. oligosanthes is ideally placed to serve as an in-group for panicoid comparative genomics. Here we report the assembly of the nuclear and chloroplast genomes of D. oligosanthes, from high-throughput short read sequencing data, as well as a comparative transcriptomics analysis of the developing leaf of D. oligosanthes, S. bicolor, and S. viridis. Physiological and anatomical characterizations verified that D. oligosanthes utilizes the C3 pathway for carbon fixation and lacks Kranz anatomy. Expression profiles of transcription factors (TFs) along developing leaves of D. oligosanthes, S. bicolor, and S. viridis were compared with previously published data from, Zea mays and Oryza sativa to identify a small suite of TFs that likely acquired functions specifically related to C4 photosynthesis.