Background

The International Year of Forests-2011 [http://www. un. org/en/events/iyof2011/] will be a milestone for forest tree genomics. The draft genome sequence of Eucalyptus grandis was released in January 2011 in the USA (Phytozome [http://www. phytozome. net]) and in Belgium (BOGAS,[http://bioinformatics. psb. ugent. be/webtools/bogas/]). The genome sequencing was funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and performed at the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) in collaboration with members of the Eucalyptus Genome Network (EUCAGEN,[http://www. eucagen. org]) who contributed genetic materials, linkage maps, EST resources and bioinformatics support. The E. grandis genome together with that of Populus trichocarpa [1] and other woody plant genomes recently completed (eg Vitis, Cacao, Prunus, Citrus and Malus) will provide excellent opportunities for comparative studies of the unique biology of woody plants. Eucalypts are currently the most widely grown hardwood fibre crop in the world and eucalypt breeding programs will benefit greatly from the new genomic resources. The reference genome sequence of Eucalyptus, a foundation tree genus in Australia comprising more than 70% of the native forest estate, will also offer important benefits for ecological and evolutionary biology studies. We report the sequencing, assembly and annotation of the E. grandis genome.