More really important data in this paper. This shows the completeness of the map they are working with.
Here we see chromosome 6 and the distribution of the THC and CBD loci within the scaffolding.
This is critical in breeding
Genomic organization of cannabinoid pathway genes. 205
We next examined the positions of genes encoding known cannabinoid biosynthetic enzymes 206
on the chromosomes. With the exception of the functional copies of CBDAS and THCAS, which 207
are considered below, the cannabinoid-related genes are distributed in a mostly random fashion 208
across the genome (indicated in Supplemental Fig. 5). The new map also finds that C. sativa 209
encodes one copy of AAE1 (hexanoyl-CoA synthetase) and two tandem copies of tetraketide 210
synthase (“olivetol synthase”). The genome sequences of both PK and FN also contain the 211
THCAS-like gene described by Kojoma (Kojoma et al. 2006) which led to the two-locus 212
THCAS/CBDAS hypothesis. This THCAS-like gene is 96% identical to THCAS at the nucleotide 213
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press on December 31, 2018 - Published by genome.cshlp.org Downloaded from
And the conclusion offers real hope and and opertunities to improve our selection criteria.
Cannabis and cannabinoids are increasingly employed in medicine, and recently have been 345
legalized for recreational use in many jurisdictions. The new map should facilitate vastly 346
improved genetic analysis, including QTL mapping, which will accelerate crop improvement 347
efforts. Drug prohibition has restricted access to cannabis by plant breeders and researchers, 348
and as a result it has received less attention than other crops. Cannabis suffers from insect 349
pests, widespread fungal diseases and has a number of agronomic issues such as flowering 350
time requirements that make it difficult to grow in some environments. In addition, breeding of 351
cannabis types with specific cannabinoid and terpene profiles is desirable for the development 352
of new varieties for medical and recreational use. The fact that a strong and interpretable result 353
was obtained by re-examining a previously described marker correlating with total cannabinoid 354
content (Weiblen et al. 2015) clearly shows the potential of this approach as it applies to 355
cannabinoid metabolism. Due to the relatively high rate of polymorphism in cannabis, it should 356
be possible to employ resequencing (e.g. low-coverage short-read Illumina protocols) on either 357
crosses or at a population level to associate variants or variation with traits and genes, using the 358
genetic map. 359
The next step is developing a simple method of analyzing F1 candidates by testing for the presence of precursor proteins. A pregnancy test for F1 plants that is non distructive. If we could test root hairs for the proteins. We know which plants are going to be CBD/CBD+THC/THC producers in a1:2:1 ratio. We can leverage this in better selection.
From the voices in my head.
Ethan.
