ENSURING BEST YIELD: MPOB releases Elaeis guineensis genome map, which will have major implication on enhancing future output and ensuring sustainability
The papers also identified a single gene that is critical for palm oil yield.
The publication of back-to-back studies in a single edition of the respected journal is an unprecedented milestone for Malaysian scientists.
Commenting on the breakthrough, MPOB director-general Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May said as the second largest producer of palm oil in the world, Malaysia has a responsibility to make advancements that will improve the sustainability of oil palm agriculture while improving yields for small and large growers alike.
"The mapping of the oil palm genome will pave the way for many more breakthroughs and help meet the increasing global demand for food and biofuels worldwide, while simultaneously helping to preserve the rainforest," she said.
Conducted in collaboration with the US-based Orion Genomics, the research reports on the Elaeis guineensis (E.guineensis) genome sequence tallies nearly 35,000 genes, including the full set of oil biosynthesis genes and other gene regulators, which are highly expressed in the oil-rich palm fruit.
E.guineensis, which originates from Africa, is the commercial oil palm planted in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
In addition, the research team has also created a draft sequence of the South American oil palm, Elaeis oleifera, which should lead to further advances in palm oil productivity.
According to joint first authors Dr Rajinder Singh, Dr Meilina Ong Abdullah and Dr Leslie Low of MPOB's advanced biotechnology and breeding centre, this discovery may help balance the competing interests of meeting increasing worldwide demand for edible oil and biofuels on the one hand and of rainforest conservation on the other.
Oil palm genomes are a rich resource for palm breeders, geneticists and evolutionary biologists alike and will facilitate future identification of genes responsible for important yield and quality traits, such as fruit colour, disease resistance and height," said joint corresponding author Dr Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi, head of MPOB's oil palm genome programme and director of the advanced biotechnology & breeding centre.
The investigators relied on MPOB's germplasm collection of more than 100,000 palms, gathered from Africa and South America over five decades, along with carefully designed genetic crosses to identify the gene and its two mutations.
Read more: Headway in palm oil research http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/NOMTRU/Article/#ixzz2dGSVomPg
THE Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has released the oil palm genome map, which is set to have major implications on en-hancing future production and sus-tainability of the palm oil industry.
The oil palm genome, in layman terms, allows scientists to weed out negative elements of a oil palm tree even before it is planted and is in seed form.
The country's palm oil regulator and watchdog agency said the maps were published in two landmark Malaysian-led scientific research papers on Wednesday.
The papers were published online ahead of the publication of "Nature", an influential scientific journal.
The publication of back-to-back studies in a single edition of the respected journal is an unprecedented milestone for Malaysian scientists.
Commenting on the breakthrough, MPOB director-general Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May said as the second largest producer of palm oil in the world, Malaysia has a responsibility to make advancements that will improve the sustainability of oil palm agriculture while improving yields for small and large growers alike.
"The mapping of the oil palm genome will pave the way for many more breakthroughs and help meet the increasing global demand for food and biofuels worldwide, while simultaneously helping to preserve the rainforest," she said.
Conducted in collaboration with the US-based Orion Genomics, the research reports on the Elaeis guineensis (E.guineensis) genome sequence tallies nearly 35,000 genes, including the full set of oil biosynthesis genes and other gene regulators, which are highly expressed in the oil-rich palm fruit.
E.guineensis, which originates from Africa, is the commercial oil palm planted in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
In addition, the research team has also created a draft sequence of the South American oil palm, Elaeis oleifera, which should lead to further advances in palm oil productivity.
According to joint first authors Dr Rajinder Singh, Dr Meilina Ong Abdullah and Dr Leslie Low of MPOB's advanced biotechnology and breeding centre, this discovery may help balance the competing interests of meeting increasing worldwide demand for edible oil and biofuels on the one hand and of rainforest conservation on the other.
Oil palm genomes are a rich resource for palm breeders, geneticists and evolutionary biologists alike and will facilitate future identification of genes responsible for important yield and quality traits, such as fruit colour, disease resistance and height," said joint corresponding author Dr Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi, head of MPOB's oil palm genome programme and director of the advanced biotechnology & breeding centre.
The investigators relied on MPOB's germplasm collection of more than 100,000 palms, gathered from Africa and South America over five decades, along with carefully designed genetic crosses to identify the gene and its two mutations.
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