Assembly of the 373k gene space of the polyploid sugarcane genome reveals reservoirs of functional diversity in the world's leading biomass crop

Background Sugarcane cultivars are polyploid interspecific hybrids of giant genomes, typically with 10–13 sets of chromosomes from 2 Saccharum species. The ploidy, hybridity, and size of the genome, estimated to have >10 Gb, pose a challenge for sequencing. Results Here we present a gene space assembly of SP80-3280, including 373,869 putative genes and their potential regulatory regions. The alignment of single-copy genes in diploid grasses...