Accelerating Crop Research with High-Quality Affordable Genome Assemblies

This webinar discusses the impact of affordable de novogenome assemblies on crop research.

De novo genome references are critical to understanding plant biology and unlocking the potential of genomics for cutting-edge plant breeding in agriculturally important species. However, assembling quality references from sequencing data can be a costly, complex, and time-consuming process.

In this webinar, Assaf Distelfeld from Tel Aviv University, a world leader in wheat genomic research, discusses recently generated genome assemblies of wheat progenitors, and how this new resource can help solve biological questions and improve wheat breeding. In addition, representatives of NRGene, Illumina, and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign detail how their technology and services helped make this project happen, and others like it.

The recent decrease in short-read sequencing costs and increased read lengths on the Illumina Novaseq sequencer and SP flow-cell, combined with NRGene’s accumulated experience in wheat genomics and bioinformatics, resulted in a more than 50 percent reduction in project cost. These innovations make de novo sequencing more accessible and affordable for researchers than ever before, without compromising genome assembly quality. 

Speakers:

Assaf Distelfeld
School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Institute for Cereal Crop Improvement (ICCI)
Tel Aviv University 

Alvaro Hernandez, PhD
Director of DNA Services
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Guy Kol
SVP Products and Strategic Alliances
Nrgene

Kahlil Lawless
Agrigenomics Segment Manager, Americas
Illumina, Inc.