Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) Genome Published

The Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics collaborated with the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, AL, to sequence and assemble a complete genome for the species Quercus rubra. Northern red oak is a hardwood tree that is both economically and ecologically important, occurring in large native populations across eastern and central United States and Canada.  The tree selected for genome sequencing was from a unique three-generation mapping pedigree at Purdue University (Konar et al, in 2017, doi: 10.1186/s12864-017-3765-8). 

A high-quality assembly of the 12 chromosome sequences of Northern red oak, totaling 763 M bases, was released to the public on June 8, 2021 via the US Department of Energy's plant genome website Phytozome (https://phytozome-next.jgi.doe.gov/info/Qrubra_v2_1). The web site at Phytozome 13 includes a browser to view each chromosome and the positions of over 20,600 genes, along with predicted transcripts and proteins in the Northern red oak genome.

The publication of the Northern Red Oak genome, in the November 2023 issue of the journal G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics, included a team of researchers at Pennsylvania State University, the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky, Michigan Technology University, the University of Missouri, North Carolina State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Göttingen, and the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.  In addition to a detailed description of the structure of the Northern Red Oak genome, the team reported results from comparative genomics and phylogenetic analyses and the identification of genes important to adaptation in red oaks, including genes and gene families associated with plant structure, vegetative bud break, marcescence, terpenoid synthesis, defense-response, and abiotic stress tolerance.  These gene families may play important roles in genome–environment interactions of red oaks in response to climate change.

Support for this research was provided by a McIntire-Stennis grant (USDA NIFA Accession # 1020603) to J.E. Carlson, past director of The Schatz Center for Tree Molecular Genetics.