背景回顾：Maize (Zea mays L.) is at the vanguard facing the upcoming breeding challenges. 

提出问题：However, both a super pan-genome for the Zea genus and a comprehensive genetic variation map for maize breeding are still lacking. 

主要发现：Here, we construct an approximately 6.71-Gb pan-Zea genome that contains around 4.57-Gb non-B73 reference sequences from fragmented de novo assemblies of 721 pan-Zea individuals.  

结果1-泛基因：We annotate a total of 58,944 pan-Zea genes and find around 44.34% of them are dispensable in the pan-Zea population. 

结果2-结构变异：Moreover, 255,821 common structural variations are identified and genotyped in a maize association mapping panel. Further analyses reveal gene presence/absence variants and their potential roles during domestication of maize.

结果3-结构变异与农艺性状：Combining genetic analyses with multi-omics data, we demonstrate how structural variants are associated with complex agronomic traits. 

结论：Our results highlight the underexplored role of the pan-Zea genome and structural variations to further understand domestication of maize and explore their potential utilization in crop improvement.  

 摘 要 

玉米是面临即将到来的育种挑战的先锋。然而，目前仍缺乏玉米属的超级泛基因组和综合的遗传变异图谱，以用于玉米育种。本文中，作者构建了约6.71 Gb的玉米泛基因组，其中包含了来自721份玉米种质4.57Gb的片段化从头组装序列。作者共注释了58944个玉米泛基因，发现其中44.34%的基因在泛玉米群体中是可有可无的。此外，作者基于一个玉米相关的图谱群体，鉴定到了255821个共有的结构变异和基因分型。进一步的分析揭示了基因存在/缺失变异（PAV）及其在玉米驯化过程中的潜在作用。结合遗传分析和多组学数据，作者揭示了结构变异是如何与复杂农艺性状相关的。本文的研究结果突出了泛玉米基因组和结构变异在进一步理解玉米驯化和探索其在作物改良中的作用。

 严建兵 

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