Are we there yet? Driving the road to evolutionary graph-pangenomics

With increase in the number of sequenced genomes, it is now recognized that graph-based pangenomes can provide a comprehensive platform to study diversity in a population or species, from point mutations to large chromosomal rearrangements. By incorporating concepts from graph theory, a graph-pangenome can be studied directly to identify genomic regions and genes that underlie important evolutionary processes and traits. Here, I discuss how basic concepts in graph theory can be implemented to address questions in evolutionary genomics and guide future breeding efforts. Despite its compelling versatility, a graph-pangenome assembly is still challenging especially in species with large complex genomes. As technology is rapidly improving, the graph-pangenome is expected to become a central platform in genomics studies and applications. Thus, development of tools and methods that exploit the graph structure are urged to pave the route to evolutionary graph-pangenomics.