Solanaceae genomics: Current status of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) genome sequencing and its application to pepper (Capsicum spp.) genome research

Abstract

Unique developmental aspects, divergent phenotypes and habitats of Solanaceae make the family an ideal model to investigate the basis of diversification and adaptation. In view of this uniqueness, a global tomato genome sequencing project designated "International Solanaceae Genome Project (SOL): Systems Approach to Diversity and Adaptation" has been launched. The goal of this initiative is to sequence the 220 Mb euchromatin that is expected to contain the majority of coding sequences, rather than 950 Mb full-length tomato genome. Given the high degree of similarity of tomato and pepper genomes, it will be particularly interesting to apply tomato genome information to pepper using a comparative genomics approach. In this review, we discuss the current progress in sequencing of tomato in Korea, genomics resources of pepper and beneficiary of the tomato sequence.