The tobacco genome sequence and its comparison with those of tomato and potato

The allotetraploid plant Nicotiana tabacum (common tobacco) is a major crop species and a model organism, for which only very fragmented genomic sequences are currently available. Here we report high-quality draft genomes for three main tobacco varieties. These genomes show both the low divergence of tobacco from its ancestors and microsynteny with other Solanaceae species. We identify over 90,000 gene models and determine the ancestral origin of tobacco mosaic virus and potyvirus disease resistance in tobacco. We anticipate that the draft genomes will strengthen the use of N. tabacum as a versatile model organism for functional genomics and biotechnology applications.