An international team of researchers, led from Chile by the University of Concepción (UdeC) and involving the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio, a joint centre of the University of Valencia and the Spanish National Research Council), has sequenced the genetic code of Araucaria araucana, a native Chilean species at risk of extinction with significant food potential. The laboratory of I2SysBio scientist Tomás Matus is responsible for assembling and functionally annotating this genome, which is eight times larger than the human genome.
“Our contribution to the project, led by the Plant Epigenetics Laboratory headed by Rodrigo Hasbún, primarily involves providing the genomic information storage system and making it publicly accessible to the scientific community. We are currently improving the assembly of the sequences obtained using three different sequencing platforms (Oxford Nanopore, PacBio and Illumina), as well as annotating the genes—essentially updating the gene catalogue”, explains Tomás Matus, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the University of Valencia.
Araucaria araucana, commonly known as araucaria, pewen or Chilean pine, is an evergreen gymnosperm tree native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. Popularly used as a garden tree, it can reach up to 50 metres and live for a thousand years. Due to the prevalence of similar species in ancient prehistory, it is often referred to as a "living fossil".
This species is threatened by population decline caused by logging, forest fires and grazing. Its seeds are edible, resembling large pine nuts, and are harvested by indigenous communities in Argentina and Chile. The tree also holds potential as a food crop in other regions with cool oceanic summer climates, such as western Scotland, where other nut crops do not grow well.
This initiative will help standardise protocols for detecting and monitoring the genetic diversity of species and their adaptive potential. Moreover, it will serve to integrate genetic and evolutionary knowledge into conservation planning. By knowing the genome, it becomes possible to develop monitoring programmes for individual trees and compile a catalogue of genes present in this genome. This will also aid in understanding developmental processes such as reproduction, climate change resilience or pest resistance. The Chilean forestry and paper company CMPC has also participated in the project.
Tomás Matus is a plant biologist and PhD in Agricultural Sciences (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile). He is interested in using genomics and systems biology tools to study the regulation of plant development and metabolic networks. He has completed postdoctoral research at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG, 2008-2013, 2015-2019) and has gained experience in omics technologies to understand flower development in model species. He joined I2SysBio in 2019 through a Ramón y Cajal contract at the University of Valencia.
Database: https://tomsbiolab.com/araucariadb/
Photo captions:
- Araucaria araucana specimens, a native Chilean species at risk of extinction with food potential.
