The genome of the avocado has been sequenced.
The project was led by the National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity in Mexico, Texas Tech University, and the University at Buffalo, according to a news release. The research was published Aug. 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, according to the release.
The study of the fruit revealed that the hass avocado inherited about 61% of its DNA from Mexican varieties and about 39% from Guatemalan ones.
Researchers also uncovered information about the function of individual avocado genes, opening the door to create new traits, boost yields and improve disease resistance with genetic engineering, according to the release.
“Our study sets the stage for understanding disease resistance for all avocados,” Victor Albert, Empire Innovation Professor of Biological Sciences in the University of Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences and a visiting professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
