Preface
The duckweed or Lemnaceae family is a collection of five genera (Spirodela,
Landoltia, Lemna, Wolffiella, and Wolffia) and 37 species of the smallest,
fastest growing flowering plants living in aquatic environments. Many
of these monocotyledonous plants can grow all over the world in a variety of
climates. Provided their simplified and neotenous morphology, duckweeds
have been researched for several decades as a model species for plant
physiology and ecotoxicological research, contributing to the knowledge,
e.g., about flowering response, plant circadian system, sulfur assimilation
pathways, and auxin biosynthesis. In addition, duckweed-based water treatment has been proven as a feasible and inexpensive solution, especially
within developing countries, to remove phosphorus and pharmaceutical
chemicals from sewage and wastewater. With a dry mass yield per hectare
per year up to 80 tonnes (equivalent to 10 tonnes of protein), duckweed is a
promising aquatic crop in new modern and sustainable agriculture. Besides
being an excellent primary or supplemental feedstock for production of
livestock and fish, duckweed biomass can be utilized as a potential resource
for human nutrition, biofuel, or bioplastics, depending on water quality as
well as protein or starch accumulating procedures. Those academic and
commercial interests led to the international effort to sequence the Spirodela
polyrhiza genome, the smallest and most ancient genome in the family.
Spirodela genomes reveal novel insights into the 158-Mbp genome size with
less than three quarters number of Arabidopsis thaliana protein-coding genes
and no signs of recent retrotranspositions.
In view of above, a total of 46 authors, representing 23 academic institutions or companies from five countries, have contributed 18 chapters for
this book. This volume in the genome compendium series covers not only the
latest findings in modern genetics, phylogenetics (Chaps. 2, 5), epigenetics,
cytogenetics (Chap. 4), transcriptomics (Chaps. 12, 13, and 16), proteomics
(Chap. 14), and genomics research in all five genera of duckweeds but also
efforts toward transformation, genome editing and sequencing of the over
one Gigabase Wolffia genomes (Chaps. 15, 17), with their large potential
impacts on genome evolution and agricultural research. The introductory
chapter stresses the importance of duckweeds as an aquatic plant model and
as an extensive resource for biotechnological applications. The book tells the
tale of the first Spirodela genome sequencing adventure (Chap. 7), details the
nuclear (Chap. 9) and organelle (Chap. 10) genome sequences of Spirodela
polyrhiza, which is the smallest, least methylated, and least transposon-rich
xi
The duckweed or Lemnaceae family is a collection of five genera (Spirodela,
Landoltia, Lemna, Wolffiella, and Wolffia) and 37 species of the smallest,
fastest growing flowering plants living in aquatic environments. Many
of these monocotyledonous plants can grow all over the world in a variety of
climates. Provided their simplified and neotenous morphology, duckweeds
have been researched for several decades as a model species for plant
physiology and ecotoxicological research, contributing to the knowledge,
e.g., about flowering response, plant circadian system, sulfur assimilation
pathways, and auxin biosynthesis. In addition, duckweed-based water treatment has been proven as a feasible and inexpensive solution, especially
within developing countries, to remove phosphorus and pharmaceutical
chemicals from sewage and wastewater. With a dry mass yield per hectare
per year up to 80 tonnes (equivalent to 10 tonnes of protein), duckweed is a
promising aquatic crop in new modern and sustainable agriculture. Besides
being an excellent primary or supplemental feedstock for production of
livestock and fish, duckweed biomass can be utilized as a potential resource
for human nutrition, biofuel, or bioplastics, depending on water quality as
well as protein or starch accumulating procedures. Those academic and
commercial interests led to the international effort to sequence the Spirodela
polyrhiza genome, the smallest and most ancient genome in the family.
Spirodela genomes reveal novel insights into the 158-Mbp genome size with
less than three quarters number of Arabidopsis thaliana protein-coding genes
and no signs of recent retrotranspositions.
In view of above, a total of 46 authors, representing 23 academic institutions or companies from five countries, have contributed 18 chapters for
this book. This volume in the genome compendium series covers not only the
latest findings in modern genetics, phylogenetics (Chaps. 2, 5), epigenetics,
cytogenetics (Chap. 4), transcriptomics (Chaps. 12, 13, and 16), proteomics
(Chap. 14), and genomics research in all five genera of duckweeds but also
efforts toward transformation, genome editing and sequencing of the over
one Gigabase Wolffia genomes (Chaps. 15, 17), with their large potential
impacts on genome evolution and agricultural research. The introductory
chapter stresses the importance of duckweeds as an aquatic plant model and
as an extensive resource for biotechnological applications. The book tells the
tale of the first Spirodela genome sequencing adventure (Chap. 7), details the
nuclear (Chap. 9) and organelle (Chap. 10) genome sequences of Spirodela
polyrhiza, which is the smallest, least methylated, and least transposon-rich
xi