A short overview on the latest updates on cereal crop plant genome sequencing with an emphasis on cereal crops and their wild relatives

The advent of next generation sequencing has brought a revolution in the sequencing and availability of whole genome data for numerous plant species. However the genome sequencing of major staple food crops has been noticeably obscure and till relatively recently majorly unaccomplished. The obstacles for sequencing of genomes of the Poaceae grasses including sugarcane and the Triticeae wheat, barley and rye has been largely ascribed to the complex polyploid nature of their genomes, having undergone numerous evolutionary changes duplications and additions resulting in their huge modern genomes of today. Undertaking their sequencing has been a daunting task however due to the sequencing of wild grass relatives such as Brachypodium and Aegilops has been an encouraging step providing an essential framework and reference for deciphering the complex genomes particularly Triticum aestivum. This paper discusses the major challenges involved, the approaches taken and the up to date accomplished tasks for sequencing a few of the major large grass crop genomes