Genome data from foxtail millet (Setaria italica)

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) (2n=18), is an annual grass grown both as cereal crop (grain production) and as forage food. It is primarily grown in temperate, subtropical and tropical areas. With approximately 6,000 varieties, millet is one member of the Panicoideae (grasses subfamily), which includes maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum). It is a nutritious dietary staple, containing starch, proteins, and a number of vitamins and minerals, such as calcium, iron, and sodium. It feeds nearly one-third of the world population with main daily-calories intake, and is especially prevalent in dry climates or soil-poor regions that are not suited for the cultivation of many other crops. Millet is self-pollinating, has a short lifecycle, is small in stature, and has a small genome size; all of these useful attributes make it an invaluable functional genomics model system, and an excellent reference genome to aid in the sequencing of other larger grasses genomes.

谷子（Setaria italica）（染色体数目2n=18）是一种一年生禾本科植物，既可作为谷类作物用于籽粒生产，也可作为饲用作物。该物种主要种植于温带、亚热带及热带区域，约有6000个品种，隶属于黍亚科（Panicoideae，禾本科亚科），同亚科包含玉米（Zea mays）、高粱（Sorghum bicolor）和甘蔗（Saccharum officinarum）。谷子是营养丰富的膳食主食，含有淀粉、蛋白质以及多种维生素与矿物质，如钙、铁和钠。它为全球近三分之一的人口提供主要的日常热量摄入来源，尤其在干旱气候或土壤贫瘠、不适宜多数其他作物种植的地区广为普及。谷子具有自花授粉、生长周期短、株型小巧以及基因组规模小的优良特性，这些特质使其成为极具价值的功能基因组学模式系统，同时也是辅助其他大型禾本科基因组测序的优质参考基因组。