Cooperation between CAS and Local Authorities

Chinese Ginseng Genome Sequenced

A genome sequence of the Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng) has been revealed, and the relevant news was announced at a press conference on March 4, 2011, which was co-hosted by the Tonghua Municipal Government of Jilin Province, CAS and the Jilin Zixin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Mr. Wang Rulin, Governor of Jilin Province, Prof. Li Jiayang, Vice President of CAS, and over 200 people attended the conference. The ginseng genome sequencing was undertaken by the Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG), CAS. Starting from late 2010, researchers have successfully completed the genome sequencing in several months and obtained a high-quality ginseng sequence map with over 100 times coverage, using the second-generation sequencing technology and novel research methods. “The completion of ginseng genome sequencing has laid a cornerstone for the ginseng program, and provided basic biological information of ginseng that will contribute to the research on its gene diversity, variation and relations”, said Prof. Yu Jun, Deputy Director-General of BIG. Further genomic analysis on ginseng is already under way.