The IPPC scientists designed the first tool of genomic analysis for the genetic improvement of the sunflower.

– allows to identify the genes that are expressed at any given time of the culture and circumstances of stress and specific pathogens

– allows you to catalogue the most profitable species and enhance the efficiency of crops

-CIPF design has been validated successfully

Valencia, may 2012.- the Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics Research Center Prince Philip has designed and developed the first microarray – device of genomic analysis through the bioinformatics-designed to be used in the processes of genetic improvement of crops of sunflower. This microarray detects active in different species of sunflower genes, and catalog those that would work best in the crosses aimed at the traditional breeding.

This microarray pioneered the world allows to identify the genes that are expressed at any given time of the culture and circumstances of stress and specific pathogens. In this way scientists can locate which genes that are acting in certain circumstances and knowing in advance are valid under certain conditions, and above all also which genes should be ruled out.

According to Dr. Joaquin Dopazo, principal investigator of the Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics of the IPPC, through the microarray can be obtained responses on the functioning of the crop to various external factors such as drought resistance or tolerance to diseases, so it is a tool for genetic improvement of cultivated lines ”.

The tool is part of a project between the Research Centre Príncipe Felipe and INTA (National Institute of technology, Argentina Agropearia), through the project of the Spanish Agency of international cooperation for development (AECID) for the development of genomics in Argentina. In this way, the team of CIPF has put his experience in genomics research and bioinformatic tools at the service of the Argentine crops and its efficiency and profitability improvement.

One more step in the traditional breeding: most rapid and economical

The microarray measures the different species of sunflower gene activity, and is capable of searching and elucidate what would be the most valid markers genes to improve the productivity of crops, according to the desired conditions. As exemplifies Dr. Dopazo, in cases of drought, the chip allows to find out which genes are active in these conditions and are more resistant to these circumstances, and therefore would allow cross species in a more controlled way, so that we could get sunflowers more resistant to drought in a traditional wayfaster and cheaper to wait a crop to grow in to check if it works ”.

In this way, the microarray accelerates and cheaper the cultivation of the sunflower and power efficiency, since it facilitates the design and the cataloguing of more profitable species through the study of the activity of their genes ”

the microarray has been validated and tested successfully in crops of sunflower, and has proved its effectiveness and efficiency in Argentine crops. The new tool prevents tests and crosses blind, that the knowledge of genes is an effective tool to ensure that the process is controlled and get some crops of higher quality and better adaptability as a result ”, concludes Dopazo.

A multidisciplinary perspective

The new tool applied to the cultivation of the sunflower is an example of the multitude of applications of bioinformatics, whose genes and gene expression analysis techniques can be applied in various fields that include improving health or genetic improvement of crops and species. The Department of Bioinformatics of CIPF has a long tradition in the development of this type of genomic tools through a cutting-edge research in Bioinformatics focuses on individual projects from a multidisciplinary perspective that supports the robustness of the results.

In addition to the microarray genetic improvement, this Department has already designed eight powerful bioinformatics applications trained to analyze data of various techniques of high performance. All these tools are opened through your web page use, and are used daily to analyze experiments in research centres in the world.