Malaysian scientists map oil palm genome

On May 29, a team of researchers in Malaysia announced the complete sequencing, assembly and annotation of the oil palm genome. The Sime Darby Bhd-backed multi-sectoral group known as the oil palm genome project mapped the 1.7 billion base pair oil palm genome, which was analyzed using Synamatix Sdn Bhd’s Genome Sequencer FLX Titanium system and sequenced using Roche Diagnostics Corp. subsidiary 454 Life Sciences’s 454 Sequencing System. With their discovery, the companies as well as the Malaysian government said they hope to develop more sustainable trees with increased oil yield. In order to decipher the oil palm genome, the research team analyzed gene expression at various stages of development. The scientists explored oil biosynthesis mechanisms through the sequencing of 12 transcriptomes or messenger molecules in the oil palm cells. (May 29, 2009)