The Green Gene Revolution: tasty food, every day
LemnaTec GmbH and Keygene N.V. collaborate in crop breeding

The author, Harold Verstegen, is Vice President, Bioinformatics Keygene N.V.

November 2010

Yield, stability, quality and shelf life of fruit and vegetables are some of the major challenges for breeders. Yet, consistent quality of taste, color and texture cannot be guaranteed for products we buy at the natural and organic produce retailer, at farmers’ markets, and in supermarkets. When such a guarantee can be provided, it will have a high impact on product sales, consumer satisfaction and the environment — resulting in more efficient use of food crops, less waste and higher profitability.


The importance and advantages of automated phenotyping

In the plant breeding industry phenotyping is one of the
most crucial aspects of variety development. Phenotyping
is laborious and requires the significant experience of a professional breeder. Also, the high complexity of agronomically important traits makes it difficult to perform phenotyping with high throughput.

In 2007, KeyGene decided to invest in a new digital phenotyping technology called KeyTrack™, for high throughput screening of phenotypic variation. Through digital phenotyping it is possible to link complex traits to the available data of the DNA of varieties. This results in finding the gene of interest and the location of such a gene. For example, it was possible to identify a color gene in pepper by combining KeyGene’s existing DNA technology with automated phenotyping. Breeders will benefit from these capabilities by finding genes linked to certain traits, resulting in better breeding material and in consumers enjoying fresher and tastier products.”

The KeyTrack platform is a robust phenotyping platform in a greenhouse setup. The phenotyping is based on imaging technology and uses the potential of a fully automated track that moves all plants through the greenhouse compartment and scanning areas. The plants grow in individual containers and are photographed at preset points in time and from various angles. The images are stored in a large database, ready for further detailed trait analysis. It is possible to look at typically dissected traits such as shape, color, architecture structure, leaf area and water content. With these data projects like biomass development, yield stability, root development, shoot development, drought experiments and resistance screening can be carried out.

Joint forces to add capabilities for breeders

LemnaTec, a German technology company, and KeyGene are collaborating in plant “phenomics.” By combining the strength of LemnaTec’s imaging platform and KeyGene’s analysis platform new high-throughput capabilities for robust and objective screening of plant populations can be offered. KeyGene and LemnaTec will be the first in Europe to deliver this technology as a service for customers all over the world.


For more information, please contact:
Harold Verstegen, VP Bioinformatics, hve@keygene.com