Results from the Peanut Genome Initiative and the Impacts on Cultivar Development

The Peanut Genome Initiative (PGI) was a 4ive year international effort which began in 2012. The objectives were to sequence the peanut genome and develop and apply new genomic technologies to peanut science. A large part of the funding came from the U.S. peanut industry. Their primary goal was to develop marker-assisted selection (MAS) methodologies that lead to improved cultivars. Peanut is an allotetraploid with a very large genome. One of the 4irst accomplishment of the PGI was to sequence the genomes of the two progenitor diploid species of peanut. Recently, the sequence of the cultivated species was completed. To develop genetic markers for MAS, several structured populations were developed, genotyped, and phenotyped. Molecular markers have been developed for several economically important traits and are being implemented in breeding programs. This is having a great impact on the ef4iciency and effectiveness of peanut cultivar development.