Streptochaeta angustifolia Genome sequencing and assembly

The grass family (Poaceae) encompasses more than 10,000 species making it one of the largest families in the plant kingdom. The members of this family have adapted to numerous environments, are globally distributed and ubiquitous. Grasses are also economically important as they include both cereals (wheat, maize, rice, barley, and oats) and minor grains (rye and various millets). Much of our understanding of grass evolution comes from comparative genomic studies of domesticated cereal crops and their wild relatives. An ancestral genome in the grass phylogeny will allow us to better understand genome evolution of the grasses over deeper evolutionary time and will allow us to identify the innovations that have caused these species to be so successful and widespread. Here we report the draft genome assembly for Streptochaeta angustifolia.