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2 General description of chloroplast genome organization in representative Angiosperms. The arcs with arrows indicate the inversion fragments
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The Date Palm Genome Project of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a comprehensive genome research project aimed at sequencing
the date palm genome to completion, deciphering the transcriptomes and understanding the biology of date palm for improved
cultivation and pest prevention. We introduce plant genomics and its technological advancement, tools an...
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The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), famed for its sugar-rich fruits (dates) and cultivated by humans since 4,000 B.C., is an economically important crop in the Middle East, Northern Africa, and increasingly other places where climates are suitable. Despite a long history of human cultivation, the understanding of P. dactylifera genetics and mol...
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... An association of two genes, presumably associated with sex, was found on chromosome 12 [186]. Moreover, several genome sequences of different date palm varieties have been published [187][188][189][190]. ...
Unlike in animals, dioecy among flowering plants is a rare phenomenon. The vast majority of angiosperm species have a bisexual flower that combines male (androecium) and female (gynoecium) reproductive organs. However, about a quarter of species have dioecious flowers, which can be located within the same plant (monoecious) or on different plants (dioecious). The flower formation in dioecious plants is determined by various genetic mechanisms. They become more complex from the work of a single gene to the functioning of full-fledged heteromorphic sex chromosomes, which can directly affect sex differentiation or participate in the balance determination of sex (where the formation of male or female flower organs depends on the ratio of X chromosomes to autosomes, for example). In recent years, the development of sequencing techniques, bioinformatics, and molecular biology has led to an increase in interest in the sex determination mechanisms among plants. It is noteworthy that a significant number of dioecious plants have economic value. At the same time, dioeciousness often complicates the growing process. This fact increases the relevance of studies on dioecious crops. In this review, we attempt to summarize the current information on sex chromosomes and the mechanisms of sex determination in dioecious plants, concentrating on species with agricultural importance.
... Also, they applied transcriptomic studies on genes related to fruit development and abiotic resistance. (Zhang et al., 2011;Al-Mssallem et al., 2013). In A whole genome re-sequencing study took place at the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, Abu Dhabi using an illumina sequencer in 2015. ...
... The orchards of date palm are also distributed in different places in Saudi Arabia, and according to NCFP [9], there are more than 400 date cultivars in the main four regions, such as Riyadh, Qassim, Eastern, and Madinah, of which only 50 to 60 cultivars produce dates commercially in these four regions [10]. Figure (1) shows the 13 geographical regions that contain various cultivars of date palm. ...
The main agricultural product in Saudi Arabia is the date palm, it has been playing a significant role in the daily life of the people in the Middle East and North Africa for the last seven thousand years. Saudi Arabia is the third-largest global producer of dates, while Egypt occupies the number of one position as the largest date producer across the world. the total production of date in 2018 in Saudi Arabia was reported at 1,399,762 metric tonnes in 2018 from an estimated 30,429,607 trees, which were cultivated in an estimated area of 155,118 hectares. Using a case study in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia, the use of biomass from date palm was investigated. It was demonstrated that this material may provide a feasible sustainable energy supply in Saudi Arabia. The total quantity of potential biomass generated from the residues of date palm in the Riyadh region to produce energy would be 865 x 106 tonnes per year. The overall potential to recover energy from the residues of date palm was forecasted to be 15.63 PJ per year
... In the current study, the major concern was to estimate the genomic size in pg and convert it into million base pair (Mbp). However, the obtained size in the studied 50 date palm cultivars varied from previous reports that mentioned genomic sizes of 258 Mbp (Zhang et al. 2011), 250 Mbp (Barakat et al. 1999), 350 Mbp (Al-Dous et al. 2011) and 670 Mbp (Al-Mssallem et al. 2013. These variations in DNA content can be associated with the instrument used (Dolezel and Bartos 2005), the sample preparation and the standardization procedure (Doležel et al. 1998) and the reference plant species used as an internal standard. ...
Date palm is an important fruit crop and member of palm family, reported with varied ploidy levels, i.e., 14 (2n = 28) to 18 (2n = 36) pairs of chromosomes and genomic size due to the limited work done on its cytological aspect. The amount of nuclear DNA content is extremely important to understand the hereditary constituent of any species. Hence, the present study was conducted with the aim to estimate the ploidy level and especially the genomic size (C value) of date palm by studying fifty date palm cultivars with flow cytometry using propidium iodide (PI) as the fluorescent dye. The maize genome size (5.14 pg) was used as the internal reference. The results obtained regarding genomic size of date palm cultivars significantly varied and ranged from 1.59 to 1.84 pg 2C −1 or 780.11 to 903.06 Mbp when converted into base pairs of DNA. The average genome size of studied cultivars was observed to be 1.726 2C −1 , while, that of nuclei significantly varied from cultivar to cultivar and appeared independent to the genomic size of the studied cultivars. Intraspecific variations were not detected among five exotic cultivars (Amber, Sugae, Medjool, Safawi and Ajwa) grown in Pakistan in relation to their place of origin. The cluster analysis exhibited two main groups of cultivars, the first group comprised 65.3% (33 cultivars) and the second group contained 35.7% (17 cultivars). In addition, no ploidy was observed among all the studied cultivars. The findings regarding the estimated genomic sizes of studied cultivars may be helpful in understanding date palm genetics, breeding and genome sequencing programs further.
... King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2008 conducted the Date Palm Genome Project (DPGP) in association with Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Science (BIG/CAS). The main objectives of the project included date palm genome sequencing and sequencing of chloroplast, mitochondrial and nuclear genomes (Zhang et al. 2011). From the DPGP they developed a genome diversity map for 30 cultivars using the shotgun-sequencing method. ...
Date palm is one of the oldest cultivated plants, grown in the arid and semiarid regions of the world. The date fruit serves as a vital worldwide component of the human diet and a staple food for millions of people. Unfortunately, various abiotic and biotic stresses along with agronomic constraints are hindering date productivity. Those date cultivars adapted to stress conditions have low fruit production. Conventional breeding, depending on crosses and backcrosses, is a time-consuming process. The applied research carried out on date palm is limited, still there is enormous potential to improve date palm breeding methods. Advanced biotechnology creates unparalleled opportunities to develop new varieties with quality fruit, increased fruit yield and resistance to pests and pathogens. It also minimizes the application of potentially-harmful fungicides and pesticides and increases crop productivity. This chapter provides current and innovative information about date palm progress in terms of distribution, production, marketing strategy, current achievements, limitations and challenges facing date palm breeding. It also focuses on recent advances in tissue culture, genetic transformation and molecular breeding to improve the productivity and quality of the date.
... Recently,Al-Khalifah et al. ( 2013 ) published a book presenting RAPD markers for the identifi cation of 100 cultivars of date palm grown in Saudi Arabia.3.5.4.2 Genome MappingKing Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Science (BIG/CAS), cooperatively initiated a Date Palm Genome Project (DPGP) in 2008, with research conducted at KACST, Riyadh. The DPGP project is a comprehensive genome research project aimed at sequencing the date palm genome including organelles (chloroplast and mitochondria) as well as the nuclear genome(Zhang et al. 2011 ). ...
Date palm is a major crop significantly contributing to the agroecosystems in Saudi Arabia. There has been vast support and development in the agricultural sector in general and the date palm sector in particular during the last decades in Saudi Arabia. However, there are several challenges facing date cultivation, processing, and marketing. Such difficulties relate to water scarcity and salinity, soil erosion and desertification, insect pest infestations and disease, insufficient processing and packaging facilities and technologies, as well as a decline in date fruit demand. There is an enhancement in investment in world-class facilities and operations by leading date producers in Saudi Arabia. Large farms are prevalent in Saudi Arabia, and they are making substantial investments in new or replacement trees not in production signifying a further increase in production capacity; however, cultivar selection is generally not based on technical analyses such as yield, disease resistance, or water and fertilizers requirements. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of major recent aspects of the date palm in Saudi Arabia, a hot and arid region. Subjects discussed include fruit production, propagation, molecular and genetics descriptions, field management practices, entomology and pathology, postharvest handling, value-added products, commercial value, and nutrition and health benefits. Also presented are ways of minimizing the usage of nonrenewable natural resources as well as recent findings from research and development activities.
... DNA from the nucleus, mitochondrion and chloroplasts are now routinely extracted and immobilized into nitro-cellulose sheets where the DNA can be probed with numerous cloned genes. Despite its economic importance, there are very few DNA sequences of date palm found in the Genbank databases (Zhang et al., 2011). Establishment of date palm DNA Bank Network will enhance taxonomic, systematic, genetic, conservation and evolutionary studies. ...
... It was found that date palm genome is composed of 18 chromosome pairs, and the estimated size is 350 Mb (Al-Dous et al., 2011). Moreover, the genome size of date palm is estimated to be 1.2 billion base pairs, based on flowcytometry (Zhang et al., 2011). In this respect, complete sequence of the date palm chloroplast genomefrom an elite cultivar Khalas (Al-Hssa Oasis, Saudi Arabia), based on pyrosequencing has been reported by Yang et al. (2010). ...
Conservation of date palm genetic resources has become an important issue regarding the development of
date production and its importance for food security in many countries. The conservation of date palm varieties
in their original habitats considered one of the important aspects for maintenance of its genetic resources.
Otherwise, several field genebanks involved collecting propagation materials and growing them in specific
locations have been established for base and active collections. The main disadvantages of the two methods are
pests, diseases, natural disasters and vandalism. The conventional method used to conserve genetic resources of
date palm has been supplemented in recent years by rapid developments in plant biotechnology. In vitro
techniques developed for storage of date palm plant materials fall under two categories: (1) slow growth
procedures, where germplasm accessions are kept as sterile plant tissues or plantlets on nutrient gels; and (2)
cryopreservation where plant material is stored in liquid nitrogen. Slow growth procedures provide short- and
medium-term storage options, while cryopreservation enables long-term storage of the plant material. As
progress in biotechnology advances, DNA storage is regarded as one of the emerging ex-situ techniques for
germplasm conservation. A DNA bank is a particular type of plant genetic resource bank that preserves and
distributes the DNA molecules and provides associated information. Increased application of molecular tools
are further facilitate the use of such germplasm in date palm breeding efforts and add new value to the existing
collections. All the conservation approaches and methods mentioned above have advantages and disadvantages
and a complementary approach to safely conserve the genetic diversity of date palm is strongly recommended.
This article presents the different in-situ and ex-situ methods as well as the modern technologies used to
conserve date palm germplsm.
Desertification in Saudi Arabia is cause for environmental and socio-economic concern, as it has severe and problematic impacts. This study aimed to map desertification and the degree of its severity over the date palms-dominated Al-Ahsa Oasis in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia using Landsat-8 OLI imagery acquired in December 2019. Based on linear regression analysis, correlations between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and albedo (α), tasseled cap wetness (TCW), brightness (TCB), and greenness (TCG) were obtained. These indicators were generated by employing the tasseled cap transformation method (TCT). The results revealed a strong negative association between TCW and TCB (r = − 0.91). In contrast, NDVI–α exhibited a weak negative relationship (r = − 0.53) as a desertification identifier. Thus, the desertification degree index (DDI) was applied to the TCW–TCB relationship. The findings indicated that 83% of the oasis exhibited desertification, which was further classified based on the degree of severity into 14.2% extreme, 19.3% severe, 23.9% moderate, and 25.6% low. Overall, the study illustrates the capability of remote sensing data and techniques in mapping and assessing the degree of desertification and its severity by applying the DDI index.
The fruit of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is grown mainly in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, where it has great economic and cultural relevance. The date is highly appreciated for its elevated nutritional content, its great distinctive flavor and the great benefits it brings to health. Its pulp consists of approximately 70% carbohydrates, mostly in the form of sugars. They also contain appreciable amounts of dietary fiber, are an acceptable source of minerals and antioxidants. The most common way to consume it is fresh or dried through direct intake. Food scientists and the food industry have developed a wide range of products processed from dates, including energy bars, syrup, paste, juice, sugar, jam, candies, condiments and pickled dates, among others. Some products with added value are dates covered with chocolate, pistachios, peanuts, almonds, grated coconut or red chili powder. Among the byproducts of dates are soda, energy beverages, bread, pie, cakes, cookies and butter. Other byproducts from fermented dates are wine, beer and liquor, vinegar by oxidation and alcohol by distillation. Finally, oil and a coffee substitute are examples of byproducts derived from the date seed. This chapter provides a detailed review about processed products from date fruit, including byproducts, dates with value-added, sweets and beverages.
