b'ADVERTORIALNext Generation Breedingof Crop PlantsGil Ronen, PhD,reducing time and cost. Applying itsTo this end, NRGene developed SNPer CEO and Cofounder, own artificial intelligence tools, NRGene- a software tool to optimize genotyping NRGene has enabled the exploitation of geneticprocesses and reduce genotyping and field data collected on millions ofcosts by up to 70%. SNPer enables individual plants. Our big data analysesthe design of a tailor-made SNP set Prior to establishing NRGene, Dr. Ronen washave made it possible for companiesfor a given breeding project to fully involved extensively in plant genomics atto make the right breeding decisionsreveal the genetic content of each Compugen (Nasdaq: CGEN) and the AgBioand thus accelerate the development ofplant with a minimum number of DNA discovery company, Evogene (Nasdaq:more productive seeds.data points. To begin, NRGene analyses EVGN). His last senior positions at Evogenethe full genomic content of the plants were as Chief Scientist and Vice PresidentThe crop breeding process is 100% naturaldesignated to initiate the breeding of intellectual property. Dr. Ronen holds aand includes a mix of genetic materialprogram (called founder lines) and Ph.D. in Plant Genetics from the Hebrewusing sexual mating between the mostthen identifies millions of differences in suitable plants and the selection ofthe DNA content between the plants. University of Jerusalem. Throughout hisprogeny with a superior genetic content.Next, a Target set of SNPs that best career, Dr. Ronen has strived to improveIn modern breeding, DNA marker testsrepresent the overall genetic differences and develop new crop varieties through(also called genotyping) are part of ais selected and used in the breeding innovative genomic tools and services. decision-making tool to facilitate selectingproject. This optimization process plants to use as parents for crosses andreveals more genetic information while y 2050 the worlds populationwhich progeny to keep. reducing the SNP number tested by is projected to grow from the10-fold as compared to commonly current 7.8 billion to 9.7 billion. TheThe use of genotyping tests is constantlyused genotyping tools. Using SNPer, shortage in agricultural water, cultivableexpanding, and more useful knowledgegenotyping data generation costs can land, global spread of crop pests andis being generated from DNA data.be reduced by up to 3-fold. Moreover, pathogens, and climate change areThe introduction of next-generationfrom the generated SNP data, SNPer negatively impacting global food security.sequencing (NGS) technologies offerscan reveal the full genetic makeup To increase crop productivity, plantnew opportunities for high-throughputof each tested plant in a reverse-breeding plays a vital role and breedersgenotyping of various plant species. Withengineering computational process must keep developing new varieties.NGS, whole-genome sequencing datacalled imputation. A breeder can thus Crop breeding is a primary tool to deliverand millions of DNA data points (calledunderstand the broad picture, take the stakeholders with improved seeds toSNPs - single nucleotide polymorphisms)best breeding decision and accelerate increase farm productivity and thusfor high-throughput genotyping arethe breeding process.increase profits.available for a variety of genetic studies and breeding programs. NGS is beingSNPer is now available for breeding However, breeding is a long and costlyeffectively applied to a wide rangeprograms of any size, for every crop plant process and seed companies collectivelyof plant breeding programs such asor animal breed. Companies that adopted spend close to $10 billion per year onGenomic Selection (GS), GenomicSNPer have had immediate returns on seed development. An average breedingDiversity (GD), Genome-Wide Associationtheir investment while research scientists program requires 6-10 years for product(GWA), Linkage Analysis (LA) and Markergained much broader genetic insights at development and the average annualdiscovery. SNP markers are a powerfula significantly lower cost. yield gain for most crops is less than 1%.tool for analyzing integrated SNP sets in a species, but the drawback is that high NRGene, the worlds leading ag- costs presently hinder their broader use.For more information, please visitgenomics company, is at the forefrontNevertheless, genotyping procedureswww.nrgene.com/solutions/snper/of supporting the R&D community ofalready comprise a significant portion of the agriculture and food industry bybreeding budgets, hence the urgent need promoting the successful developmentto optimize genotyping procedures to of elite seeds, while significantlybest allocate limited R&D funds.INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2020SEEDWORLD.COM /121'