Highlights of Biotech Industry in 2012 (part 4)

Science and research

• The genome of the tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, has been decoded, an important step toward improving yield, nutrition, disease resistance, taste and color of the tomato and other crops.

• BGI in cooperation with Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Science has completed the genome sequence and analysis of foxtail millet (Setaria italica), the second-most widely planted species of millet.

• The simplest cotton genome, Gossypium raimondii, has been sequenced. The discovery, announced in the journal Nature, paves the way for making improvements in the fiber crop, which, with its oil and meal byproducts, contributes approximately $120 billion to the annual U.S. gross domestic product.

• Chinese scientists have completed a comprehensive analysis of the draft genome of the sweet orange (Citrus sinensis). This draft genome represents a valuable resource for understanding and improving many important citrus traits in the future.

• Scientists have completed a shotgun sequencing of the wheat genome. The achievement is expected to increase wheat yields, help feed the world and speed up development of wheat varieties with enhanced nutritional value.

• An international team has completed the genomic sequence of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and the resequencing of 20 watermelon accessions. The genomic data presented in this study will shape future efforts on watermelon genetics and evolutionary research, and also provide an invaluable resource for other plants research and crop genetic improvement.

• Researchers from the University of Caen, France have found tumours in rats fed a lifetime diet of Monsanto’s genetically modified maize.

• The international research team has completed the genome sequence and analysis of a diploid cotton-- Gossypium raimondii. The cotton genome provides an invaluable resource for the study and genetic improvement of cotton quality and output, and sheds new lights on understanding the genetic characteristics and evolutionary mechanism underlying cotton and its close relatives.

• An international team has completed the genomic sequence and analysis of salt cress (Thellungiella salsuginea), a wild salt-tolerant plant. The salt cress genome serves as a useful tool for exploring mechanisms of adaptive evolution and sheds new lights on understanding the genetic characteristics underlying plant abiotic stress tolerance.

• An international consortium looking into the pear genetics has completed the first pear genomic sequence. The complete sequencing of the pear genome provides a solid scientific foundation for scientists to explore the complex genetic characteristics underlying the pear fruit tree, such as the key genes that related with the taste, color, storage, resistance for diseases and insects as well as yield improvement. Moreover, the genomic sequence provides an invaluable new resource for tracing pear's evolutionary history.

• An international consortium has made publicly available the first "gold-standard" genome sequence for cotton. This critical sequence will be invaluable to better understanding and optimizing the production and sustainability of the cotton plant.

The end