Recent advances in carrot genomics

In recent years, there has been an increase in efforts toward the development of genomic resources in carrot. The number of available sequences for carrot in public databases has also increased, which has enabled the design of SSR markers, COS markers and a large-scale SNP assay for genotyping. Additional molecular tools include the first high-throughput DArT array and the full sequence of organelle genomes. These molecular resources have been used successfully to gain new insights into carrot genetic diversity, organelle genome evolution and to establish the first high density sequence-based linkage maps. The sequencing of the carrot genome was publically released in 2016, supported by a consortium of public universities and private companies. Its release has established a solid framework for carrot genetic and genomic studies, opening up a new and challenging era for the carrot scientific community.