On July 14th, Nature Magazine published a cover thesis on Genome Sequence and Analysis of the Tuber Crop Potato. This research is completed after six years’ hard work by the “potato genome international cooperative team” with 97 researchers from 14 countries led by scientists of CAAS. Dr. QU Dong-yu, former vice president of CAAS and chairman of Potato Committee of China Crop Society, is the initiator of the team and the project president on China’s side. Dr. HUANG San-wen, China’s chief scientist with the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers of CAAS is one of the three corresponding authors of the thesis.

During the course of project implementation, the Chinese team has risen from participation to dominance, laying a solid foundation for China to lead the world in potato genome research. In 2009, the Chinese team completed the haploid potato genome sequencing, assembly and annotation work. Therefore, the international collaborative team abandoned the original diploid genome sequencing technology roadmap and put most resources on the China-led haploid potato genome sequencing. On September 23rd, they announced the completion of the whole genome sequence diagram.

Since then, the collaborative team has spent nearly two years on meticulous biological analysis of potato genome and found the key genes for tuber growth and pest resistance. In addition, the potato genome group also provides new knowledge of molecular biological in further understanding the evolution ways of dicotyledons.