Recent Applications of DNA Sequencing Technologies in Food, Nutrition and Agriculture

George      E. Liu

Abstract

Next-generation DNA sequencing technologies are able to produce millions of short sequence reads in a highthroughput, cost-effective fashion. The emergence of these technologies has not only facilitated genome sequencing but also changed the landscape of life sciences. This review surveys their recent applications in food, nutrition and agriculture ranging from whole-genome sequencing and resequencing, RNA-seq and ChIP-seq, structural, functional and comparative genomics to metagenomics and epigenetics. We already began to witness broad impacts of these DNA sequencing technologies for solving the complex biological problems in food, nutrition and agriculture. In this article, recent patent-based information is also included.

Keywords: Comparative genomics, Epigenomics, functional genomics, metagenomics, resequencing, sequencing, structural genomics, DNA Sequencing Technologies, Gene expression analysis, epigenetics