Data from: The banana (Musa acuminata) genome and the evolution of monocotyledonous plants

Bananas (Musa spp.), including dessert and cooking types, are giant
perennial monocotyledonous herbs of the order Zingiberales, a sister group
to the well-studied Poales, which include cereals. Bananas are vital for
food security in many tropical and subtropical countries and the most
popular fruit in industrialized countries1. The Musa domestication process
started some 7,000 years ago in Southeast Asia. It involved hybridizations
between diverse species and subspecies, fostered by human migrations2, and
selection of diploid and triploid seedless, parthenocarpic hybrids
thereafter widely dispersed by vegetative propagation. Half of the current
production relies on somaclones derived from a single triploid genotype
(Cavendish)1. Pests and diseases have gradually become adapted,
representing an imminent danger for global banana production3, 4. Here we
describe the draft sequence of the 523-megabase genome of a Musa acuminata
doubled-haploid genotype, providing a crucial stepping-stone for genetic
improvement of banana. We detected three rounds of whole-genome
duplications in the Musa lineage, independently of those previously
described in the Poales lineage and the one we detected in the Arecales
lineage. This first monocotyledon high-continuity whole-genome sequence
reported outside Poales represents an essential bridge for comparative
genome analysis in plants. As such, it clarifies commelinid-monocotyledon
phylogenetic relationships, reveals Poaceae-specific features and has led
to the discovery of conserved non-coding sequences predating
monocotyledon–eudicotyledon divergence.