Origanum vulgare Genome sequencing

KI-Ov1850 was selected as an individual plant from a segregating population of oregano plants based on its very high level of thymol (up to 4% on a dry matter basis). A segregating, locally collected oregano (Origanum sp.) population was obtained from Turkey. Seed from this collection was planted in the greenhouse and plants were grown to a point where leaf tissue could be harvested. Leaf tissue was dried, ground and extracted using solvents. Carvacrol and thymol levels of each plant in the population were compared to purchased standards using a validated HPLC method. Vegetative cuttings of each greenhouse-grown plant were planted in the field for verification. Of three individual high thymol plants selected from the population of >200 plants, KI-Ov1850 showed the most vigorous growth and best winter hardiness which makes it an agronomically feasible crop to grow. Cuttings of KI-Ov1850 were used to vegetatively propagate this plant into a unique clonal line. The KI-Ov1850 clonal line was tested under field conditions which confirmed the agronomic feasibility of this unique clonal line to produce thymol in its leaf tissue at sufficient quantities to allow for economic extraction. KI-Ov1850 was fully sequenced at the DNA level.