REVIEW article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Genetics, Epigenetics and Chromosome Biology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1673637
This article is part of the Research TopicTraits Evaluation and Gene Mining of Plant Germplasm ResourcesView all articles
From Map to Blueprint: The Plant Pan-genome Unraveling Genetic Mysteries and Powering Precision Breeding
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Special Animal and Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
- 2Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
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With the rapid advancement of sequencing technologies and bioinformatics, coupled with significant progress in sequencing efficiency and reduced costs, substantial breakthroughs have been achieved in plant functional genomics, evolutionary genetics, and molecular breeding. However, as research deepens, accumulating evidence demonstrates that reference genomes derived from a single individual fail to adequately represent the genetic diversity of entire species. This limitation has catalyzed the emergence of the pan-genome concept. Pan-genome research now stands at the forefront of plant genomics, serving as a pivotal area of focus. Its application in plant studies has unveiled extensive genetic variations, identified numerous novel genes, and significantly enhanced our understanding of genetic diversity within relevant species. This review comprehensively summarizes recent progress in plant pan-genome research, construction methodologies, current applications in plant science, and key achievements. Finally, we outline future research directions, aiming to provide a reference for theoretical and applied pan-genome studies while offering novel perspectives for deciphering the genetic basis of plant breeding, evolutionary domestication, and phenotypic diversity.
Keywords: plant pan-genome, genome assembly, Sequencing technology, plant breeding, Genetic Variation
Received: 26 Jul 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Xu, Li, Wang, Zhang, Qiao and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hao Zhang, Institute of Special Animal and Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
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