The Strawberry Genome: The Story Behind the Story
Today we have witnessed something that many of us thought we'd never see- the completed publication of the strawberry genome. The story appeared today in Nature Genetics . But what is the story behind the story? As someone that was there from the beginning, I think it is helpful to recap the highlights and lowlights that did not reach the journal article. It adds much more texture to the news release and gives a much better understanding of the process of getting from crazy idea to final publication. When next-generation sequencing came into vogue, there was immediate buzz about sequencing strawberry. It was late 2005. Arabidopsis and rice were fully sequenced, others were in progress and other plants were in line for genome sequencing. At the time we solicited various government agencies for the funds to use the new 454 sequencer at the University of Florida. We were one of the first places with the platform, so we dreamed of using it in a revolutionary way. The tiny st