In what is considered a major step forward in biotechnology research, a group of 300 scientists from across the world, including India, have sequenced the genome of tomato.
The achievement is expected to lower the costs and speed up efforts to improve tomato production, making it better equipped to combat pests and pathogens, and to tolerate droughts.
The work, which has been published in the latest issue of international science journal Nature, is also expected to help in efforts to improve the productivity of other crops.
From India, scientists from the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology under the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and the Delhi University's South Campus participated in the programme.
Speaking to reporters, director of NIPGR and coordinator of the Indian effort Akhilesh Kumar Tyagi noted that the research would help scientists decipher the relationship between the tomato genes and traits, and broaden their understanding of genetic and environmental factors that interact to determine a crop's health and viability.
Consortium
The ‘Tomato Genome Consortium' was established after a scientific conference organised in 2003 in the U.S. Its members were drawn from the U.S., the U.K., China, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea, Israel, Spain, Argentina, and Belgium.
Tomato belongs to a family of vegetables called ‘Solanaceae,' which have a lot of global importance as they serve as sources of food, spices, medicines and ornamentals.
Keywords: DNA sequencing, tomato genome, biotechnology research, NIPGR
it is a great achievemet of India because of your hard work .Ww are proud on our scientists.
Genetically modified species of animals or for that matter Genetically
modified plant are a matter of concern for the humanity as whole.
Increase in production and reduction in cost is one parameter but
lurking dangers in playing with nature to be thought over by humans
only. .
@Dr K V Peter
I agree with you almost totally.
The news story carries the claim of the conceqrned biotechnologists: "The achievement is expected to lower the costs and speed up efforts to improve tomato production, making it better equipped to combat pests and pathogens, and to tolerate droughts."
People have forgotten that initiators of the Human Genome project had made similar predictions of huge scientific applications for human welfare, but almost nothing has come out of it. Like the Human Genome project, sequencing of the Tomato genome is just another demonstration of virtuosity, of a much lower level. It could even be considered to be an example of "parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus". Even here, the contribution of Indian scientists seems to be marginal.
Tomato with 24 chromosome numbers has been well studied for gene sequencing and
mapping.The University of California based Tomato Genetics co-operative has co-ordinated survey, collection and conservation of germ plasm.The Taiwan based Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre did pioneering work especially developing varieties for bacterial wilt resistance and hot set types.Haryana Agricultural University developed interspecific hybrids to locate leaf curl resistant varieties.The present genomics in tomato would be useful only if the tomato is put into life saving products like bionutrification,biomedicine and above all resistance to fruit and shoot borer.Originated in Peru and considered as a poisonous plant till 1846,tomato is now a vegetable of all seasons.Protected cultivation ,use of hybrids,fertigation,value added products and above all it's indespensibility in food recipe have made tomatoes a world vegetable.Tomato is a part of nutritional security menu.
It is funny how in one hand we appreciate the effort of Indian
scientists decoding the gene sequence, which will help 'improve the
productivity of crops' On the other hand, when the practical application
of this is brought into market, everyone will be up in arms protesting
against 'genetically modified tomato' like how it happened with
Brinjals.
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