Spinach whole genome resequencing

The purpose of this project is to build a molecular breeding platform integrated into a classical breeding approach in spinach. With improved next generation sequencing (NGS) and the decreasing cost of sequencing, it is becoming feasible to discover millions of single-nucleotide-polymorphisms (SNPs) for any plant and connect these markers to desirable phenotypic traits. Spinach is a very popular vegetable crop, which can greatly benefit from the development of molecular tools to improve commercial cultivars. In this project, we will discover million SNPs using whole genome resequencing technology in spinach.