Plant genome sequences catalogue genes and the genetic elements that regulate their expression. Such inventories further research aims as diverse as mapping the molecular basis of trait diversity in domesticated plants or inquiries into the origin of evolutionary innovations in flowering plants millions of years ago. The transformative technological progress of DNA sequencing in the past two decades has enabled researchers to sequence ever more genomes with greater ease. Pangenomes — complete sequences of multiple individuals of a species or higher taxonomic unit — have now entered the geneticists’ toolkit. The genomes of crop plants and their wild relatives are being studied with translational applications in breeding in mind. But pangenomes are applicable also in ecological and evolutionary studies, as they help classify and monitor biodiversity across the tree of life, deepen our understanding of how plant species diverged and show how plants adapt to changing environments or new selection pressures exerted by human beings.

植物基因组序列对基因和调节其表达的遗传元件进行编目。此类清单的进一步研究目标多种多样，例如绘制驯化植物性状多样性的分子基础或探究数百万年前开花植物进化创新的起源。过去二十年，DNA 测序技术取得了革命性的进步，使研究人员能够更轻松地对更多基因组进行测序。全基因组——一个物种或更高分类单位的多个个体的完整序列——现已进入遗传学家的工具箱。人们正在研究农作物及其野生近缘种的基因组，并考虑在育种中的转化应用。但全基因组也适用于生态和进化研究，因为它们有助于对生命之树的生物多样性进行分类和监测，加深我们对植物物种如何分化​​的理解，并展示植物如何适应不断变化的环境或人类施加的新选择压力。