A quinoa plant© 2017 KAUST LINDA POLIK
Species: Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa)
Genome size: 1.39 billion base pairs
Quinoa, a nutrient-dense crop from South America, is quickly becoming a staple in Western diets. The grain can thrive in a variety of harsh environmental conditions, such as at high altitudes and poor-quality soil. However, it’s not a simple food to produce because the plant’s seeds, which contain a bitter-tasting molecule called saponin, must be removed before human consumption.
By sequencing and analyzing the quinoa genome, researchers uncovered a gene that regulates saponin production. The group reported its findings last month (February 8) in Nature. Their discoveries could help researchers create strains of quinoa without the bitter-tasting chemical, allowing it to be more widely produced. “We discovered mutations which ensure that certain quinoa varieties cannot ...
