CONSORTIUM for the sequencing of Vanilla planifolia - « VANISEQ » project

This consortium aims at providing genomic resources and data in order to better understand the genetic of Vanilla planifolia.

Vanilla is a very popular flavoring material. Of the approximately 110 Vanilla species (Orchidaceae, monocot) that have been identified, only two are important in terms of commerce and cultivation; V. planifolia Andrews and V. tahitensis JW Moore. Among these, V. planifolia is the most valued for its flavor qualities and is therefore widely cultivated and used for the production of food additives. The fully-grown mature fruits of vanilla, also called beans or pods, develop characteristic aromatic properties by the process of curing. The cured beans are referred to as vanilla, and the major flavor compound is vanillin (3-methoxy, 4-hydroxy-benzaldehyde). In spite of its economic importance, there is little genetic diversity and few genetic or genomic resources in V. planifolia (Rao et al., 2014). The chromosome number for V. planifolia has been reported as 2n = 32. Most V. planifolia accessions are considered to be diploid with a 2C-value of 5.03 pg, but due to the large size and complexity of the V. planifolia genome, limited sequence resources are currently available.

Rao X, Krom N, Tang Y, Widiez T, Havkin-Frenkel D, Belanger FC, Dixon RA, Chen F. (2014). A deep transcriptomic analysis of pod development in the vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia). BMC Genomics. 15:964. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-964.

Collaborators

CIRAD and Université de la Réunion

Michel GRISONI

Pôle de protection des plantes, 7 chemin de l’IRAT, 97410 Saint-Pierre, Réunion

+262 2 62 49 92 28

michel.grisoni@cirad.fr

MANE

Joseph ZUCCA

V MANE FILS Département Biotechnologies 620 route de Grasse 06620 Le Bar Sur Loup

04 96 09 75 91

joseph.zucca@mane.com

EUROVANILLE

Antoine DU GRANRUT

Route de Maresquel 62879 Gouy-Saint-André

+33 (0)6 35 21 39 50

adugranrut@eurovanille.com

EVT

Sandra LEPERS

BP 912 98735 Uturoa Polynésie française

+689 40 66 46 59

sandra.lepers@vanilledetahiti.fr

INRA

Dr Helene BERGES

Director of the French Plant Genomic Resource Center

Chemin de Borde Rouge CS 52627

31326 Castanet Tolosan cedex

Tél. : 33(0) 561 28 55 65

Fax : 33(0) 561 28 55 64

Mobile : +33 (0)6 07 95 89

Helene.Berges@inra.fr

Responsible

William MARANDE