高粱全基因组参考提高了全球作物性状的发现，这一成果由哈德逊-阿尔法生物技术研究所John T. Lovell团队经过不懈努力而取得。2026年3月11日出版的《自然》发表了这项成果。

为了弥合这种多样性，该课题组人员构建了一个包含33个成员的泛基因组参考和一个跨越1984个栽培品种和地方品种的多样性小组。课题组人员利用这些资源来探索历史偶然性、持续适应和以前未表征的结构多样性之间复杂的相互作用。具体来说，他们的分析最终证明了驯化基因SHATTERING1中存在多个嵌套且深度分化的结构变异，这与之前确定的高粱多中心起源有所区别。然后，课题组应用景观基因组学揭示了基因流动和二次接触如何在当代育种网络中创造复杂的遗传马赛克。为了证明泛基因组加速性状发现的概念，该课题组人员将生物合成基因的结构变化与产氰葡萄糖苷苦素的表型叶片浓度联系起来。结合起来，这些方法将加速育种和性状发现，并为其他作物的类似应用提供框架。

据介绍，尽管绿色革命使少数作物适应了同质化和高投入的本土化农业，但全球大部分人口仍然依赖于低投入的小农农场在当地生产的可变作物品种。这种非均质作物的多样性，如谷物和生物能源作物高粱的多样性，为遗传增益和品种改良提供了原料。然而，育种努力可能受到高度专业化的性状和育种目标的限制。

附：英文原文

Title: A sorghum pangenome reference improves global crop trait discovery

Author: Morris, Geoffrey P., Harder, Avril M., Healey, Adam L., McLaughlin, Chloee M., Rifkin, Joanna L., Cruet-Burgos, Clara, Jenkins, Jerry W., Shu, Shengqiang, Spiekerman, John J., VanGessel, Carl J., Agnew, Erica, Audebert, Alain, Barry, Kerrie, Baxter, Ivan, Beurier, Gregory, Boston, Lori Beth, Boyles, Richard E., Brady, Siobhan M., Bunting, Victoria, Chaparro, Jacqueline M., Courtney, Chaney, Dembele, Joseph Skou B., Deshpande, Santosh, Diatta, Cyril, Eck, Nathaniel, Eveland, Andrea L., Faye, Jacques M., Flowers, Dave, Fonceka, Daniel, Gano, Boubacar, de Gracia Coquerel, Marie, Goodstein, David, Grimwood, Jane, Hudson, Matthew E., Kholova, Jana, Johnson, Katherine, Johnson, Kristen K., Kawa, Dorota, Kouressy, Mamoutou, Kresovich, Stephen, Lee, Scott, Lemaux, Peggy G., Lowery, Robert, Luquet, Delphine, Maina, Fanna, Mamidi, Sujan, McKay, John K., Michael, Todd P., Mindaye, Taye T., Mullet, John, Ozersky, Philip, Plott, Christopher, Prenni, Jessica E., Pressoir, Gael, Rami, Jean-Franois, Rife, Trevor W., Saxton, Jocelyn, Sine, Bassirou, Sreedasyam, Avinash, Talag, Jayson, Teme, Niaba, Tuinstra, Mitchell R., Vadez, Vincent, Vogel, John P., Walstead, Rachel, Wang, Jianan, Webber, Jenell, Williams, Melissa, Xu, Yuxing, Mockler, Todd C.

Issue&Volume: 2026-03-11

Abstract: Although the green revolution adapted a handful of crops to homogeneous and high-input industrialized agriculture, much of the global population still relies on the local production of variable crop cultivars by low-input smallholder farms. This diversity of unhomogenized crops1, like that of the grain and bioenergy crop sorghum2,3,4,5, offers raw materials for genetic gain and cultivar improvement. However, breeding efforts can be constrained by highly specialized traits and breeding targets6. Here, to bridge this diversity, we constructed a 33-member pangenome reference and a diversity panel across 1,984 cultivars and landraces. We leveraged these resources to explore the complex interplay among historical contingency, ongoing adaptation and previously uncharacterized structural diversity. Specifically, our analyses conclusively demonstrated multiple nested and deeply diverged structural variants in the domestication gene SHATTERING1, which distinguish the previously established multicentric origin of sorghum. We then applied landscape genomics to reveal how gene flow and secondary contact created the complex genetic mosaic in contemporary breeding networks. As proof of concept for pangenome-accelerated trait discovery, we connected biosynthetic gene cluster structural variation to phenotypic leaf concentration of the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin. Combined, these approaches will accelerate breeding and trait discovery and provide a framework for similar applications in other crops.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10229-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10229-9