The entire oat genome has finally been unlocked — and in just four months.
PepsiCo and Corteva Agriscience announced Tuesday that collaboration between academics, government officials and members of the private sector has led to the sequencing of the full oat genome for use in open-source applications.
“Through our collaboration with Corteva and a number of key partners, we were able to unlock answers to the difficult problem of sequencing the entire oat genome in just a few months’ time, a project that will benefit our own Quaker Oats brand and the broader oat community,” Dr. René Lammers, PepsiCo Chief Science Officer, said in a statement. “With this open-source approach, we hope to advance the science of oat breeding and ultimately improve food and nutrition security and farmer livelihoods worldwide.”
PepsiCo and Corteva have released the genome to the public in an effort to “continue to advance oat research” to improve sustainability, nutrition and taste. The data can be found on GrainGenes, a website published by the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
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"We are at an exciting time in oat genomics as technological advances have taken the oat community to the forefront of understanding how complex polyploid genomes function,” Dr. Jessica Schueter, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, said in a statement.
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