Biotech Updates

An Australian First for Lupin Genome Project

December 10, 2010

The Lupin Genome Project of the Center for Food and Genomic Medicine (CFGM) in Perth, Western Australia has been given a three-year grant of A $1.5 million by the Grains Research and Development Corporation. The project will focus on drought tolerance, disease resistance and optimal flowering time of the crop - traits that are useful in lupin crop improvement.

Lupin, a nitrogen fixing legume, is the farmer's primary winter rotation crop in Australia to reduce disease incidence in cereal crops and to improve the nitrogen content of the soil. The crop is also an important source of protein and dietary fiber that are valuable in reducing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Scientists from the grantee institution, the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research-based CFGM, led by Prof. Karam Singh, will be collaborating with experts from China, Europe, Japan and the USA in the conduct of sequencing and bioinformatic techniques to help gain and analyze the genomic sequence.

The original story can be seen at http://www.csiro.au/news/An-Australian-first-for-lupin-genome-project.html