Rice Research: Open Access
Open Access

Research Article

Whole Genome Sequencing and Analysis of Godawee, a Salt Tolerant Indica Rice Variety

Sanjeewa Singhabahu¹, Chathura Wijesinghe¹, Dilini Gunawardana¹, Muditha D. Senarath-Yapa², Madushani Kannangara², Roshani Edirisinghe² and Vajira H.W. Dissanayake^1*

¹Human Genetics Unit, University of Colombo, Kynsey Road, Colombo-00800, Sri Lanka

²John Keells Research, No. 525/1 Union Place, Colombo-00200, Sri Lanka

Corresponding Author:

Vajira H.W. Dissanayake
Human Genetics Unit, Faculty of Medicine
University of Colombo, Kynsey Road
Colombo-00800, Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 (0)11 2 689545
Fax: +94 (0)11 2 689545
E-mail: vajirahwd@hotmail.com

Received Date: January 21, 2017; Accepted Date: March 12, 2017; Published Date: March 20, 2017

Citation: Singhabahu S, Wijesinghe C, Gunawardana D, Senerath-Yapa MD, Kannangara M, et al. (2017) Whole Genome Sequencing and Analysis of Godawee, a Salt Tolerant Indica Rice Variety. J Rice Res 5:177. doi:10.4172/2375-4338.1000177

Copyright: © 2017 Singhabahu S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Godawee is a cultivated salt tolerant Oryza sativa rice variety indigenous to Sri Lanka, but its genetic basis is unknown. The whole genome of Godawee was sequenced using Illumina paired-end technology. The reads were mapped to Oryza sativa Nipponbare reference genome. Investigation of genome wide variation patterns resulted in the identification of 2,231,717 SNPs and 480,460 InDels. In silico analysis identified 192,249 non-synonymous SNPs in 31,287 genes. Variants in 28 Salt Tolerance Related Genes (STRGs) were examined. The OsHKT 2;1 gene had the largest number of SNPs in comparison to the reference genome. 16 non-synonymous SNPs that were predicted to have functional effects either by SIFT, Provean or SNAP algorithms were detected in the STRGs. The upstream regions of the STRGs were examined for cis-regulatory elements found in STIFDB, Plant CARE and PLACE databases. The most striking of this was the WRKY cis-acting family of elements which were found in abundance in the upstream regions of OsAPx8, OsMSR2, OsTIR1, OsHKT2;3, OsHKT14 and OsSOS1 genes. Sequencing and whole genome analysis of Godawee helped to understand the genetic basis of its salinity tolerance which is a complex trait involving multiple factors.

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