Lilioid monocots core group genome sequencing and assembly. lilioid monocot core group

Monocots are one of the most important plant lineages and contribute to the majority of agricultural biomass on earth. Phylogenetically, monocots can be divided into three groups; the basal (alismatid), lilioid, and commelinid monocots, the latter two form a monophyletic lineage called the "core monocots". Within the core monocots, the commelinid lineage is a monophyletic taxon that recently separated from the other branches of the lilloids. Poales and asparagales are two representative orders of commelinid and lilioid monocots, respectively, which embrace the highest monocot diversity. While Poales contain most of the grain crops, Asparagales has the most diverse floriculture and vegetable species. In addition to Asparagales, Liliales are the second largest order among the five Lilioid orders. These two orders branched out just before the commelinids, so they are called "core lilioid monocots". Species in core lilioid monocots have evolved spectacular flower appearance in adaptation to animal pollination and underground storage organs (e.g. geophytes). They are of high economic value with many species used as flavourings (such as the Allium species e.g. onion, garlic, leek, chives, etc.) and medicines in traditional medicine or cosmetics (e.g. Veratrum, Paris polyphylla and Aloe). The group also includes several important floral industry species used as cut flowers (e.g. gladiolus, orchids) or garden ornamentals (e.g. tulips, iris, lily-of-the-valley, hyacinths).Here we plan to sequence the genomes of representative species in each family of liliales and asparagales to a chromosomal level. These genomic resources will help identify the genetic novelty underlying the innovation in the flower morphology, geophyte and secondary metabolites in the core Lilioid monocots group and will boost further applications in synthetic biology of plant-derived pharmaceuticals and horticulture breeding.