Keygene

2022年11月23日

世界上最大的基因組研究機構之一——中國華大基因集團(BGI Group)旗下的三亞華大基因(BGI- sanya)和荷蘭農業食品研究公司KeyGene已經開始了首次研究合作。主要目的是研究華大基因革命性的空間轉錄組學平台Stereo-Seq在植物育種中的附加價值。這一合作產生的第一個聯合項目將專注於鑒定參與植物和病原體相互作用的先導基因。這些引線將為開發具有新穎和持久抗性的作物品種奠定基礎。這將支持全球的可持續糧食生產。通過轉錄組學技術進行基因表達分析被認為是功能分析和鑒定可能涉及重要作物性狀的先導基因的最有效方法之一。然而，這些基因中的許多隻在植物的一小部分中活躍。儲存碳水化合物的基因可能在種子中活躍，而在葉子中不活躍。參與植物防禦病原體的基因可能在真菌攻擊的葉組織的特定部位活躍。測量整個植物或器官的基因活性，所謂的批量RNA測序不夠敏感和精確，無法識別隻在局部表達但與感興趣的性狀至關重要的相關基因。 Plant breeding would therefore be greatly supported when it would be possible to reveal gene activity in a spatial context across the plant tissue landscape. One would then be able to discover relevant gene activity associated with important crop traits even when only a limited number of cells is involved, like upon localized infection by a plant pathogen. This approach is called spatial transcriptomics. Stereo-Seq transcriptomics BGI recently introduced the Stereo-Seq technology for spatial transcriptomics. This technology is one of the first to read out gene expression in situ at the sub-cellular level. “We are very excited that the collaboration with BGI Sanya will support us to be at the forefront of exploring the possibilities of this promising technology for breeding the world’s future crop varieties that will contribute to the sustainable production of sufficient and good food,” said Arjen van Tunen, CEO of KeyGene. “Our collaboration with KeyGene gives us great opportunities to study the value of Stereo-Seq for plant research and plant breeding in industry and the academic world around the globe,” said Fang Xiaodong, CEO of BGI-Sanya. Improving sustainable food production KeyGene & BGI Sanya decided to choose plant-pathogen interaction to study the potential value of Stereo-Seq in lead gene discovery for boosting plant breeding aimed at the development of varieties with resistance against pathogens. Plant varieties with resistance to pests and diseases are known to be important for the sustainable production of food. The first response of a plant to an attack by a pathogen is always very localized and within a short time interval at the infection site. Therefore, spatial transcriptomics could be typically powerful to find lead genes that will help to breed new varieties with resistance to pests and diseases. For more information: