Initiative

Developing crop varieties capable of adapting to diverse environmental changes, including climate change, is becoming increasingly important. To achieve this, breeding strategies based on genomic information are essential. A research team including Professor Hideki Hirakawa of the Faculty of Agriculture, a member of the Environment and Food Unit and the Sustainable Food Resources Design Research SIF, has successfully produced a high-quality reference genome for spinach and identified SoLNK1, a key gene involved in bolting—the stem elongation that marks the onset of flower bud formation. This discovery is expected to contribute significantly to the development of valuable crop varieties through future molecular breeding.