(VEN) – Together with the British scientists, Vietnam has successfully decoded the genomes of 36 Vietnamese rice varieties. A database in terms of the agronomic, physicochemical, phenotype and genotype characteristics of 36 Vietnamese rice varieties can now be established.
The results of the genomic sequencing of a defined collection of the Vietnamese rice varieties project are announced in Hanoi
At a workshop in Hanoi on August 28, the outcome of the genome project was made public. The project fell within the international cooperation framework in terms of science and technology between Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) with a total budget of more than VND11 billion. The project ran from January 2011 to June 2013.
Agricultural Genetics Institute Dr. Khuat Huu Trung said this was the first time Vietnam successfully decoded the genomes of a number of indigenous rice varieties, toward identifying and selecting higher quality rice varieties. This has helped scientists conserve gene resources and enables the use of bioinformatics to resolve biological problems. A database of these Vietnamese rice varieties is an extremely valuable asset.
From the decoded varieties, the country can build a map of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), helping scientists research conservation of valuable gene resources and selection of high-quality and high-yield rice varieties. Management software and a website (www.riceagi.org.vn) were also developed, helping promote and integrate institutes and universities in the selection process.
“Decoding the genomes of a number of indigenous rice varieties is a significant success for Vietnam’s biological sciences, especially the selection of high-quality and high-yield rice varieties. It has helped introduce the advantages of bioinformatics and made it practical. Following its success with the UK on this project, the Ministry of Science and Technology will coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to support a team of Vietnamese scientists who are continuing to decode other Vietnamese rice varieties, toward completing a database serving researchers and other applications of the findings in the future. In particular, the UK will continue to support Vietnam in the construction of a national laboratory for genome analysis,” said Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh./.
By Quynh Nga
Đăng ký: VietNam News