Phalaenopsis species are popular ornamental plants worldwide because of their elegant appearance and extended longevity, and they are of great economic importance for the floral industry. P. equestris is an important breeding parent because of its many colorful flowers in a single inflorescence. It has a karyotype of 2N = 2X = 38 with uniform small-size chromosomes of 1–2.5 μm in length. Its genome size is estimated to be 1.16 × 109 bp per haploid genome, which is relatively small in comparison to the genomes of other species in the same genus or even other genera. We assembled 93% of 1.086 Gb genome of P. equestris, and predicted 29,431 protein-coding genes yielded 3,694 gene families. The complete genome sequence of P. equestris will provide an important resource to start exploring orchid diversity and evolution at the genome level, which will be important for ecological and conservation purposes. The genome sequence will also be a key resource for the development of new concepts and techniques in genetic engineering, such as molecular marker–assisted breeding and the production of transgenic plants,which are necessary to increase the efficiency of orchid breeding and aid orchid horticulture research. The sequence was published in : “The genome sequence of the orchid Phalaenopsis equestris”. Cai et al. 2015. Nature Genetics.
