NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Wageningen University and Research Centre in The Netherlands will use KeyGene's Whole Genome Profiling technology in its potato genomics research, the company said today.
Wageningen UR is the coordinator for the international Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium, which aims to map the crop plant's 850 Mbp genome by the end of 2010.
The potato is the fourth most important food crop in the world, the company said, citing an annual global production of 300 million tons, with 80 percent of that being grown in Asia and Europe.
"Especially in a complex crop like potato the quality of the physical map will determine the quality of the sequence of the complete potato genome," Wageningen UR project leader Christian Bachem said in a statement.
"We have demonstrated the performance and value of Whole Genome Profiling in several vegetable crops with genome sizes ranging from 450 – 2,600 Mbp," Edwin van der Vossen, head of KeyGene's Field Crop unit, said in a statement.