Recent Research Progress in Foxtail Millet(Setaria italica)

作为一种重要的粮草兼用作物。谷子广泛地种植于黄河流域且现在仍然存在于中国北方地区。随着农业发展和人们生活水平的提高，在干旱半干旱地区的种植面积也来越少。但是，由于谷子的基因组比较小及自花授粉。它非常适合作为全基因组研究及用作生物燃料和碳4作物光合的研究模式作物。在2012年，谷子全基因组序列被成功测序。因此，谷子可以用来研究植物形态、生理生化及比较功能基因组学。为了更系统地了解谷子研究进展，我们从种质资源、传统育种、生理生化、分子标记、遗传图谱构建、基因定位及基因组测序比较基因组等方面进行综述。这将为未来研究谷子打开一扇窗户。

Recent Research Progress in Foxtail Millet （Setaria italica）

Foxtail millet （Setaria italica L. Beauv.）, as a significant food and fodder cereal crop, was widely cultivated in the Yellow River Valley and is still a kind of farming tradition of millet in Northern China. With the development of agriculture and the improvement of people＇s living standards, foxtail millet＇s planting area has be- come less and less in arid and semi-arid region now. However, because of its small diploid genome （1C genome size=420 Mb） and self-pollination, foxtail millet is very suitable for whole genome sequence and is used as an experimental model plant for C4 photosynthesis and biofuel research. In 2012, the completed genome sequence of foxtail millet had been successfully produced by the Beijing Genomics Institute （BGI） and US Department of Energy Joint Genomic Institute （JGI）, respec- tively. It will be used as an experimental crop to explore many aspects of plant ar- chitecture, physiology and biochemistry, comparative and functional genomics studies in the bioenergy grasses. To systematically understand the recent research progress in foxtail millet; we summarize the following aspects in this study： germplasm, tradi- tional breeding, physiology and biochemistry, molecular marker, construction of genet- ic linkage map, gene localization, genome sequencing and comparative genome. This may be a door to open for the further development of foxtail millet in the future.