Genomics of Duckweed

The first duckweed genome was published in 2014 for the species Spirodela polyrhiza. This genome offered an initial glimpse into the genetic underpinnings of the unique lifestyle of duckweed as a fast-growing aquatic clonal flowering plant. It showed that Spirodela polyrhiza, and by extension duckweeds, are not only unique in their lifestyle, but also in their genomic architecture. For example, the genome showed an atypical retrotransposon distribution, with no recent transposon activity. Moreover, they found that the ancestors of duckweed underwent two whole-genome duplications around 95 million years ago, while only 19,623 genes were found in the genome, signifying major gene loss. Since then, several Spirodela polyrhiza genomes have been published, including novel clones and updated genomes from the same clone (see table below). In addition, genomes of the second Spirodela species, Spirodela intermedia, have been published.

For the Lemna genus, the genome of L. minor was first published, followed by L. minuta. Recently, the genomes of L. gibba, L. japonica, L. minor and L. turionifera have been published.

For the Wolffia genus, the only genomes that have been published are from the species W. australiana.

The only species of the Landoltia genus, Landoltia punctata, has been sequenced.

To date, no Wolffiella genome has been published.