PI: James J. Giovannoni (Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research)
CoPIs: Bruce A. Roe (University of Oklahoma - Norman), Lukas A. Mueller and Joyce Van Eck (Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research), Stephen M. Stack (Colorado State University)
The plant family Solanaceae includes tomato, pepper, potato and eggplant and is the most important vegetable family worldwide in terms of both economic value and volume of production. Tomato is also an important model system for studying fruit biology and plant responses to disease with discoveries impacting the production of many other crops. Recent advances in DNA sequencing have made it feasible to sequence the entire genome of an organism and an international consortium of 10 countries has initiated sequencing of tomato as a reference genome for the Solanaceae family of crops. This project represents the US contribution to the tomato genome sequencing effort and specifically encompasses creation of: 1) a low resolution DNA sequence of the entire tomato genome based on state-of-the-art sequencing technologies, 2) high quality DNA sequence of two of the twelve tomato chromosomes (chromosomes 1 and 10) to complement the remaining 10 chromosome sequences being created by our international partners, and 3) creation and enhancement of electronic web-based resources to allow characterization, analysis and delivery of the tomato genome sequence to researchers who will exploit it for biological discovery in tomato and additional crop species important as sources of food, fiber and energy. Availability of a tomato genome sequence will facilitate research and discovery leading to a broader understanding of plant biology, biodiversity and domestication and will impact agricultural improvement efforts directed toward crop sustainability, productivity and quality of tomato and related species.
This project encompasses the US contribution to the international tomato genome sequencing effort. Public access to a reference genome sequence for tomato and related vegetable crops (potato, pepper, eggplant) will support and accelerate research activities focused on both basic understanding of plant biology and development of crop varieties with improved yield, performance, quality and sustainability, thus enhancing US and world food security. In addition to the impact of the resulting science, the project will also provide education and training opportunities. Specifically, four Ph.D. scientists (postdoctoral), two graduate students, approximately 20 undergraduate students and 17 computer programmers, research technicians and other professionals will receive training and employment under this project. The project will provide public outreach activities including presentations to K - 12th graders at schools in the vicinity of the participating research laboratories and summer research internship opportunities for ten undergraduate students in addition to those mentioned above. The project partners with ongoing USDA-funded research to convert output of the tomato genome sequencing effort into tools to assist crop breeding in addition to the development of web-based tools for their presentation to interested members of the research community and the general public. Information developed through this project will be deposited in the NCBI public DNA sequence database (GenBank), published in peer-reviewed journals and presented through the Solanaceae Genomics Network database (www.sgn.cornell.edu) that this project will support and expand.
