FIND-IT: Accelerated trait development for a green evolution

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Genetics
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Global food security and climate change necessitate improved agricultural and industrial organisms.
• Efficient methods for identifying genetic variants are crucial for crop and microbe improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce FIND-IT (Fast Identification of Nucleotide variants by droplet DigITal PCR), a novel resource for ultrafast genetic variant identification and isolation.
• To demonstrate the application of FIND-IT in accelerating crop improvement pipelines.

Main Methods:

• Utilizes large-scale sample pooling combined with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR).
• Enables screening of large variant libraries with low-mutation densities.
• Achieves identification and isolation of targeted genetic variants in under 10 days.

Main Results:

• Successfully screened 500,000 barley (Hordeum vulgare) individuals.
• Isolated over 125 targeted barley gene knockout lines and miRNA or promoter variants.
• Demonstrated the applicability of FIND-IT to elite breeding pipelines.

Conclusions:

• FIND-IT significantly accelerates the identification and isolation of genetic variants.
• The method reduces time-consuming technical steps, speeding up germplasm evolution.
• FIND-IT is a valuable tool for developing improved agricultural organisms to address global challenges.