Selaginella kraussiana cultivar:Aurea Genome sequencing and assembly

Plant stem cells, which not only give rise to all tissues and organs but also are the source of regeneration, has experienced the progressively change from the simple to complex organization during evolution of vascular plants. However, most studies of plant stem cells were carried out in angiosperms, which are the most highly evolved vascular plants; and our knowledge of stem cells in early evolution of vascular plants are limited. Lycophytes and euphyllophytes (ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms) are two existing branches of vascular plants, and they separate more than 400 million years ago. Lycophytes retain many features of early vascular plants and have a long evolutionary history more than any others. In this study, we performed genome and transcriptome analyses of the lycophyte model plant Selaginella kraussiana, which is easy for in vitro culture and observation of organ formation and regeneration. WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX (WOX) genes are key stem-cell controlling genes, and our result showed that the S. kraussiana genome encodes at least eight WOX genes which retain at the early stage of WOX family evolution. Overall, based on the genome and transcriptome data, S. kraussiana could be used as a model plant for studying early evolution of stem cells in vascular plants at the molecular level.