2023-08-26 04:00:06
In a context where climate change represents a threat to the world’s food supply, scientists from McGill University are seeking to improve the resilience and nutritional quality of potatoes. Professor Martina Strömvik and her team have established a potato super-pangenome (The potato, or potato (colloquial language, Canadianism and regional French), is…) in order to identify genetic traits that might lead to to the production of a “super-potato”.
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“Our super-pangenome reveals the genetic diversity of the potato and the types of genetic traits that we might incorporate into currently grown varieties to improve them,” says Professor Strömvik, who worked with researchers from Canada, United States and Peru. “It brings together 60 species and this is the first time that so much data (In information technology (IT), a datum is an elementary description, often…) on the genomic sequence (Genomics is a discipline of modern biology. It studies the functioning…) of the potato and its related species are brought together”, she adds.
The genome designates the set (In set theory, a set intuitively designates a collection…) of the genetic instructions of an organism, which are carried by the DNA. The pangenome, meanwhile, is a window (In architecture and construction, a window is a bay, an opening in a wall or a pan…) on genetic diversity (Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ = to give birth) is…) within the same species (In the life sciences, the species (from the Latin species, “type”…), and the super-pangenome takes into account several species.
A potato resistant to disease, drought and frost The potato is a staple food for many populations and one of the most important food crops in the world, following rice and wheat. “Wild potato species can tell us a lot regarding the genetic traits essential for adapting to climate change and extreme weather conditions, optimizing nutrient quality or improving food security”, explains the professor. Stromvik.
To establish the potato pangenome, the research team used supercomputers to process data from public repositories, including genebanks in Canada, the United States and Peru.
According to the scientists, the pangenome might answer many questions regarding the evolution of this basic culture domesticated by the indigenous peoples of the mountains of southern Peru almost 10,000 years ago. It might also be used to identify specific genes and then create a “super-potato” using conventional breeding techniques or gene editing technology. .
“Scientists hope to develop a variety capable of resisting various diseases and better tolerating extreme weather conditions such as heavy rains, frost and drought,” says Professor Strömvik.
The study The article “Pangenome analyzes reveal impact of transposable elements and ploidy on the evolution of potato species”, by Ilayda Bozan, Sai Reddy Achakkagari, Noelle L. Anglin, David Ellis, Helen H. Tai and Martina V. Strömvik, was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
McGill University Founded in 1821, McGill University welcomes exceptional students, faculty and staff from across Canada and the whole world. Year following year, it ranks among the best universities in Canada and the world. A world-renowned higher education institution, McGill University carries out its research activities on three campuses, 12 faculties and 14 professional schools; it has 300 study programs and more than 39,000 students, including more than 10,400 at the graduate level.
Its adherence to sustainable development (Sustainable development is a new concept…) is not new: it goes back decades and is deployed both locally and globally ( A planetary designates a mobile mechanical unit, representing the solar system…). As evidenced by the sustainability statements it has signed, the University wishes to help shape a future where human beings can flourish while respecting the planet (A planet is a celestial body orbiting around the Sun or another star from…).
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