The research program was piloted from Reunion Island, thanks to the collection of vanilla trees built up in Saint-Pierre for almost twenty years : CIRAD announced on May 5 that it had identified 83% of the genetic heritage of the Vanilla plantifolia species., the most cultivated in the world.
Four years of work were necessary for this, involving the universities of Reunion and Paris-Saclay, the INRAE, the CNRS and the Vanille de Tahiti Establishment, as well as two private metropolitan companies, Eurovanille et V. Mane Son. Only 30% of the vanilla genome had been described so far by an American team. By managing to identify 59,000 genes, French research takes a big step forward in knowledge of the precious orchid. Genome sequencing is a basis on which other researchers will be able to rely to more quickly detect the genes that contribute to the quality of the pods., to their aromatic composition ; but also to their resistance to diseases, especially fusarium wilt, which is rife in all the vanilla plantations of the world, including those of Reunion. The results obtained by CIRAD and its partners were published in the scientific journal Plant Communications and posted online, free access, on a web platform.
The vanilla genome revealed by CIRAD
