Genetic Engineering for Enhancing Beneficial Traits

Wild strawberry leaf cells engineered to express fluorescent proteins (left) and a wild strawberry plant in axenic culture (right).

Recombinant DNA and genome editing technologies are being developed to study the genetic functions of wild and cultivated strawberries. Current efforts focus on the functional analysis of various genes related to yield increase (i.e., the ENO gene) and disease resistance.

Genetic Engineering Research Using the Cultivated Strawberry ‘Nyoho’

Image of ‘Nyoho’ during tissue culture, provided by the Tochigi Agricultural Experiment Station, Strawberry Research Institute

A molecular biological study is being conducted using the ‘Nyoho’ strawberry cultivar, developed in Japan, as a standard strain. Although ‘Nyoho’ is rarely produced today, its historical nationwide cultivation provides valuable records and significantly contributes to this research.

Our goal is to establish methods for gene functional analysis utilizing transformation and genome editing technologies and to develop techniques for introducing valuable genes identified in wild strawberries into cultivated varieties.