The Department of Horticultural Genetics and Biotechnology of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, organized the kick-off of the research project “Ntomatomics: Development Of New Tomato Cultivars By Using Omics Technologies”, with the participation of members of other academic entities from Greece, as well as ELGO-Dimitra.
The project, with a total budget of €1,000,000, aims at the characterization and utilization of the Greek traditional varieties of tomato (landraces) and the existing genetic material, at various stages of breeding, with the main aim the production of Greek tomato varieties either in the form of a hybrid or as inbred lines with selection criteria the improvement of post harvesting behavior, nutritional value and productivity.
This will be achieved through multiple, innovative research tasks involving the participation of research teams with complementary specialization and leading companies in the greenhouse-tomato production, using high-throughput new technologies for bio-molecular analysis (or omics), such as genomics, transcriptomics, glycoproteomics, metabolomics, and phenomics.
The Ntomatomics project is co-financed by Greece and the European Union under the Action “Research-Create-Innovate -2nd Cycle” of the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation”.
Strategic partners
The consortium of the project consists of the following partners:
The Department of Horticultural Genetics & Biotechnology-Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, in Crete, which is coordinating the project; The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki;
The Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture; The Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences; The Department of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Agriculture; The Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences- FORTH (Foundation for Research and Technology, Hellas), in Patra; The Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, in Thessaloniki -Hellenic Agricultural Organization -Demeter;
The Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources-Genebank, in Thessaloniki – Hellenic Agricultural Organization -Demeter; Thrace Greenhouses SA , in Xanthi; and Iakovos Greenhouses , in Chania.