Scientists have successfully decoded the genome of quinoa, one of the world’s most nutritious and resilient crops.
The study, published online this week in Nature, was an international collaboration led by Professor Mark Tester at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia.
The enormously popular “super-food” is gluten-free, has a low glycaemic index and contains an excellent balance of essential amino acids, fibre, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, causing international demand for the grain to soar and prices to skyrocket as demand exceeds supply.
“Apart from its nutritional benefits, the ability of quinoa to grow on marginal land is possibly most exciting”, said Prof Mark Tester. “It can grow in poor soils, salty soils and at high altitudes. It really is a very tough plant. Quinoa could provide a healthy, nutritious food source for the world using land and water that currently cannot be used, and our new genome takes us one step closer to that goal.”
Future research projects will focus on identifying the genes that make quinoa so tolerant to poor soils. In pilot experiments carried out at the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility‘s Adelaide node, The Plant Accelerator®, different growth conditions and salt applications were tested in preparation for larger-scale studies. The first studies showed that quinoa still grows well when watered with half-strength sea water, when many other crops would die. Since performing these initial experiments, Professor Tester and his team have secured further research funding to work towards establishing quinoa as a broadacre crop.
“We are extremely excited to support this important research”, said Dr Bettina Berger, Scientific Director at The Plant Accelerator®. “As part of this collaborative project, The Plant Accelerator® will perform two screening runs of a diversity panel in the second half of 2017 to identify the genetic basis of salt tolerance in quinoa”.
The full published study in Nature. doi:10.1038/nature21370
BBC News online article
Nature Middle East online article