Ball Horticultural Company and KeyGene announce the complete genome sequence and assembly of Impatiens walleriana

Ball Horticultural Company is thrilled to announce a breakthrough years in the making. Through a collaborative effort with KeyGene, the companies are pleased to announce the successful sequencing and assembly of the Impatiens walleriana genome. This first-of-its-kind project creates a highly accurate tool for breeders looking to provide new solutions to the industry in Impatiens.

“Genome sequencing and assembly not only provides a more efficient approach to breeding and plant trait identification, but it provides a deeper understanding of our products and their ultimate potential in the marketplace,” says Matt Mouw Chief Technology Officer for Ball Horticultural Company.

Over the course of this project, Ball and KeyGene achieved 100x coverage using long read sequencing technology, which has already led their breeding teams to better utilize significant key plant genes, specifically, genes that confer high resistance to Impatiens Downy Mildew (IDM). The disease has severely impacted global sales of I. walleriana since 2008. By utilizing this new resource of high resistance, along with these newly available genomics tools, breeding companies like PanAmerican Seed are closer than ever to producing Impatiens with high resistance to IDM.

“PanAmerican Seed is known as ‘the Impatiens company,’ a leader in the class for years, and with this new understanding of I. walleriana, we continue to lead the industry toward grower solutions,” says Matt Kramer, Research Director at Ball Horticultural Company. “Dedicated work by our breeding teams over recent years has produced positive results and we can’t wait to share our discoveries with customers very soon.”

While PanAmerican Seed has worked to address IDM solutions over the past five years, the impatiens genome project took more than two years to complete. It included disciplines from many areas of the industry, including pathologists, breeders, seed technologists, product development teams, and production.

“It was truly two key projects brought together to produce great success overall,” says Ruud Brinkkemper, General Manager of PanAmerican Seed B.V. in Venhuizen, NL. “The sequencing and assembly of the I. walleriana genome has empowered me to better use the plant’s genetic potential to unlock important traits through the use of traditional breeding techniques.”

“KeyGene is proud of its collaborative spirit, and the project with Ball has been especially satisfying, as it has directly impacted current breeding and product development,” says Arjen J. van Tunen, CEO of KeyGene. “All sequence and molecular breeding data were transferred to an I. walleriana CropPedia, a KeyGene software that enables easy and comprehensive analysis and marker/gene identification. In combination with our sequencing and assembly strategy, this proved to be vital for the success of the project.”

According to Mouw, Ball Horticultural Company has committed to a significant investment in the area of advanced plant technology, with the goal to deliver products, services and solutions to the industry. “This is the first in what will promise to be a pipeline of opportunities in seed and vegetative products that wouldn’t before have been possible.”