The genomes of three mango species—Indian mango (Mangifera indica), “pahutan” (Mangifera altissima) and “kwini” or Saipan mango (Mangifera odorata)—were successfully sequenced in a project led by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).
According to Project Leader Dr. Eureka Teresa M. Ocampo of UPLB the genome sequences will be used in developing molecular markers for the target traits of “carabao” mango, such as resistance to pests and diseases.
Funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD), the project also reported the assembly of two of the three targeted genomes.
A genome refers to the complete set of DNA in an organism.
The DOST-PCAARRD and UPLB have been partners in previous projects in developing mango hybrids, including the improvement of the competitiveness of carabao mango in the local and international markets.
It included the recent 6.5-year program, “Enhancing Competitiveness of Philippine ‘Carabao’ Mango through Varietal Improvement,” that was funded by the DOST-PCAARRD with a total budget of P33 million.
It aims to identify molecular markers associated with red blush, thick peel and resistance to fruit fly and anthracnose through genotyping by sequencing technology.
It also aims to develop hybrids that may have the target traits singly or in combination with the other intended traits.
The current project used next-generation sequencing and annotated the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms produced from the genotype by sequencing data to assemble the whole genome sequences of the targeted mango species.
The project team partnered with the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute to access the High Performance Computing facility of the Computing and Archiving Research Environment to store the data generated from the project.
The annotated genome sequences of the three mango species were already uploaded to the National Center for Biotechnology Information for data curation.
Through the project, four project staff and BS Agricultural Biotechnology students were trained on bioinformatics.
The project was recently reviewed in a virtual project review joined by project team members from UPLB; S&T Consultant Dr. Ma. Anita M. Bautista of UP Diliman; and DOST-PCAARRD Crops Research Division staff led by Renelle C. Yebron, section head of Program Management and Evaluation, Project-based Information System, and Ma. Cecilia S. Alaban manager for mango of Industry Strategic Science and Technology Program.
Image credits: DOST-PCAARRD