Reference Genome Sequence of Flax

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an economically important fibre and oilseed crop with a relatively small genome size, estimated at 370–455 Mb, depending on the genotypes. The first and second versions of the flax reference genome sequence for the Canadian linseed cultivar CDC Bethune were released in 2012 and 2018, respectively. Since then, a few other representative flax genotypes have been sequenced using second and third-generation sequencing technologies. These are the Chinese linseed cultivar Longya-10, the Chinese fibre cultivars Heiya-14 and Yiya-5, the Russian fibre cultivar Atlant, and a pale flax (Linum bienne) accession. These genome sequences provide a wealth of genomic information to assist research endeavors toward a better understanding of the flax genome and through facilitating genetic studies in flax. This chapter presents a brief review of the major advances in flax genome sequencing, assembly, annotation, and comparative analysis between these genome sequences.