Spain: Citrusgenn unravels citrus DNA

Valencian scientists within the framework of the Citrusgenn project have managed to sequence the genome of citrus. This is a great step forward towards the introduction of improvements in the sector in Valencia and Spain, because there is "nothing in the world comparable to this breakthrough," as stressed by the researcher from the Department of Genomics of the Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (IVIA), Javier Terol. Although institutions in other places, such as France (Genoscope), the US (Joint Genome Institute), Italy (Institute of Applied Technology) and other countries like Brazil and China are also working on the field, the Valencian project is, "the most advanced and a worldwide reference in terms of the amount of information collected," highlights Terol.

After all, since the sequencing of the Clemenules genome, which back then was established as the model, the DNA of over 160 commercial varieties of citrus has been unravelled. This not only helps establishing the characteristics of these varieties, it also makes it possible to transfer the work currently being done in orchards (which lasts for a minimum of three years) to laboratories.

In this sense, choosing the Clemenules as the pattern to work from has been particularly important. Terol points out that, "It is, commercially speaking, the most important one we have in the Valencian Region," and the project seeks to make advances that are particularly useful in Valencia. After all, firms are interested in obtaining results with applicable outcomes, points out Javier Terol, and they, along with the administration, are the main supporters of the Citrugenn project.

Among them is ICCSA, which receives its funding from 18 citrus firms from Castellon. Its technical director, Juan Carlos Claramonte, points out that, in the near future, planned crosses will be able to be made to improve the varieties. The project itself stresses on its website that the goals focus on extending the campaigns, finding trees that are more resistant to plagues and drought and obtaining tastier and sweeter fruit with a longer post-harvest shelf life, resulting in better commercialisation results.

Thanks to the genome's sequencing, "the characteristics we are interested in can be selected before crosses are made without having to experiment first in orchards," explains Terol. The number of tests necessary is also considerably reduced.

The president of Asociex, Jorge García, welcomes the advances made to save time, despite it still being a long-term process. Terol stated that it will still take several years to perform the crosses, so "we are already planning to renovate the project, which will finish this year."

Citrusgenn was born from a previous international project which resulted in other projects, such as Citruseq, which started in 2009. The total budget amounts to approximately 5 million Euro.

Source: Elperiodicomediterraneo.com