Mining the Diversity of Philippine Traditional Rice Varieties through Whole Genome Sequencing and Bioinformatics (Ongoing)

The project will sequence the whole genomes of 1,001 Philippine traditional rice varieties and develop a reference genome for the aromatic and high-value ‘Dinorado’ variety to identify important traits such as herbicide tolerance, early maturity, low phytic acid content, and enhanced micronutrient density. The project also aims to establish the Philippine Rice Genome Database (Ph Rice GDB), a centralized platform for storing, curating, and analyzing genomic data to accelerate rice breeding and research initiatives. The project accomplished the collection of 968 Philippine Traditional Rice Varieties (TRVs), sequenced 27% of the TRVs, and capacitated 45 staff and researchers through Basic Bioinformatics Training.