In Israel, NRGene is collaborating with researchers from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands and others to create multi-genome mapping of commercial food potatoes. Potatoes are the fourth most consumed food crop in the world, reaching €11 billion in global trade. NRGene has completed the phased assembly of three commercial potato varieties.
The potato genome is complex. It’s an auto-tetraploid, which means that each potato cell contains four nearly identical copies of each chromosome and gene, making the assembly and phasing of the four copies extremely difficult for traditional technologies.
The potato pangenome will synergize the assembly information to contribute a comprehensive genomics view of the potato genome. The group, led by potato researcher Richard Finkers, PhD, and Prof. Richard Visser, PhD, from WUR is seeking other researchers from academia and industry to join the project to enrich the pan-genome analysis and thus better characterize the natural genetic diversity of the species.