Comparative genomics of two jute species and insight into fibre biogenesis

Jute (Corchorus sp.) is one of the most important sources of natural fibre, covering ∼80% of global bast fibre production1. Only Corchorus olitorius and Corchorus capsularis are commercially cultivated, though there are more than 100 Corchorus species2 in the Malvaceae family. Here we describe high-quality draft genomes of these two species and their comparisons at the functional genomics level to support tailor-designed breeding. The assemblies cover 91.6% and 82.2% of the estimated genome sizes for C. olitorius and C. capsularis, respectively. In total, 37,031 C. olitorius and 30,096 C. capsularis genes are identified, and most of the genes are validated by cDNA and RNA-seq data. Analyses of clustered gene families and gene collinearity show that jute underwent shared whole-genome duplication ∼18.66 million years (Myr) ago prior to speciation. RNA expression analysis from isolated fibre cells reveals the key regulatory and structural genes involved in fibre formation. This work expands our understanding of the molecular basis of fibre formation laying the foundation for the genetic improvement of jute. Bast (phloem) fibres are obtained from the stem of the plants such as jute, flax, hemp, ramie and kenaf. The annual global production of jute generates a farm value of ∼US$2.3 billion1. The cultivated species of jute, C. olitorius and C. capsularis, are morphologically and physiologically distinct (Supplementary Fig. 1), and a combination of useful traits from these species into a single genotype is highly desirable3. However, interspecific hybridization is limited because of their cross-incompatibility4,5. To facilitate comparative functional genomics and to understand the molecular basis of bast fibre biogenesis, genomes of two popular jute cultivars C. olitorius var. O-4 and C. capsularis var. CVL-1 are sequenced and analysed

Observation of a new D-s meson decaying to DK at a mass of 2.86 GeV/c(2) RID C-2728-2008 RID C-5223-2009 RID C-5719-2008 RID D-1055-2009 RID A-2675-2009

We observe a new D-s meson with mass (2856.6 +/- 1.5(stat)+/- 5.0(syst)) MeV/c(2) and width (48 +/- 7(stat)+/- 10(syst)) MeV/c(2) decaying into (DK+)-K-0 and (D+KS0). In the same mass distributions, we also observe a broad structure with mass (2688 +/- 4(stat)+/- 3(syst)) MeV/c(2) and width (112 +/- 7(stat)+/- 36(syst)) MeV/c(2). To obtain this result, we use 240 fb(-1) of data recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) storage rings at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center running at center-of-mass energies near 10.6 GeV

Observation of the exclusive reaction e(+)e(-)->phi eta at root s=10.58 GeV

We report the observation of e(+)e(-)->phi eta near root s=10.58 GeV with 6.5 sigma significance in the K+K-gamma gamma final state in a data sample of 224 fb(-1) collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II e(+)e(-) storage rings. We measure the restricted radiation-corrected cross section to be sigma(e(+)e(-)->phi eta)=2.1 +/- 0.4(stat)+/- 0.1(syst) fb within the range vertical bar cos theta(*)vertical bar < 0.8, where theta(*) is the center-of-mass polar angle of the phi meson. The phi meson is required to be in the invariant mass range of 1.008 < m(phi)< 1.035 GeV/c(2). The radiation-corrected cross section in the full cos theta(*) range is extrapolated to be 2.9 +/- 0.5(stat)+/- 0.1(syst) fb