Cornell Researcher Spells Out Strategy for Next-Gen Cassava Breeding Project at PAG

January 16, 2013

By Andrea Anderson

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Andrea Anderson is a senior science reporter for GenomeWeb Daily News, covering genomics research studies and translational research. E-mail Andrea Anderson or follow GWDN's headlines at @DailyNewsGW.

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An international team has sequenced the genome of the carnivorous bladderwort plant, Utricularia gibba. Their findings suggest that the carnivorous plant has ditched virtually all its non-coding DNA, retaining a set of sequences that's almost exclusively genic. "What that says is that you can have a perfectly good multicellular plant with lots of different cells, organs, tissue types and flowers, and you can do it without the ['junk' DNA]," said co-corresponding author Victor Albert.
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The US Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute has funded six new initiatives to develop technologies that will help JGI and its users conduct their research efforts into microbiology, metagenomics, and plant genomics. The projects will be supported under the Emerging Technologies Opportunity Program with a total of around $3.5 million over the next two years. Among the researchers receiving funding are Stephen Quake and Jay Shendure.
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Cornell Researcher Spells Out Strategy for Next-Gen Cassava Breeding Project at PAG

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