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Plant research

Offering ultra-long sequencing reads (>4 Mb), nanopore technology enables accurate assembly of large, highly repetitive plant genomes — resolving structural variants, transposons, and transgene insertions — to deliver new insights into plant biology, evolution, and breeding strategies. Base modifications (e.g. methylation) can be identified alongside nucleotide sequence with no additional protocol steps or expense, while the facility to sequence full-length transcripts supports enhanced gene annotation and gene expression studies.

Telomere-to-telomere gapless banana chromosomes

Read the paper
…plant chromosomes can now be assembled in a single contig, gapless and from telomere to telomere… Belser, C. et al. Communications Biology 4 (2021)

Oxford Nanopore sequencing

Traditional short-read technologies

Unrestricted read length (>4 Mb achieved) Long-read sequencing

Read length typically 50–300 bp

Short reads do not typically span entire regions of interest, including repeats and structural variants, or full-length RNA transcripts, resulting in fragmented assemblies and ambiguous transcript isoform identification.

Direct, amplification-free protocols Amplification-free sequencing

Amplification required

Amplification can introduce bias — reducing uniformity of coverage with the potential for coverage gaps — and removes base modifications, necessitating additional sample prep, sequencing runs, and expense.

Flexible and on-demand Flexible, on-demand sequencing

  • Scale to your throughput needs
  • Sequence in the lab or field with portable Flongle and MinION
  • Tackle large plant genome projects with flexible, high-throughput GridION and PromethION devices
  • No sample batching required

Limited flexibility

Platform costs and infrastructure requirements can limit global accessibility. Sample batching may also be required for optimal efficiency, potentially delaying results.

Streamlined workflows Streamlined sequencing workflows

Laborious workflows

Typically, lengthy sample preparation requirements and long sequencing run times, reducing workflow efficiency.

Real-time data streaming Immediate access to data

  • Get immediate access to results for time critical applications such as plant pathogen identification
  • Enrich targeted regions based on real-time sequence composition using adaptive sampling
  • Stop sequencing when sufficient data generated — wash and reuse flow cell
  • Use simple EPI2ME workflows for real-time microbiome and plant pathogen analysis

Fixed run time with bulk data delivery

Increased time-to-result and inability to identify workflow errors until it’s too late, plus additional complexities of handing large volumes of bulk data.

White paper

Closing the gap in plant genomes

This review outlines how researchers are addressing the challenges of producing high-quality, highly contiguous plant genome assemblies through the use of nanopore sequencing technology — enabling new opportunities in plant conservation and breeding. Specific case studies cover the elucidation of centromere sequences, the role of structural variation in phenotypic traits, and the complete genomic characterisation of transgenic lines. Learn how long nanopore sequencing reads simplify the study of genome architecture and how the latest Oxford Nanopore Q20+ chemistry, combined with plant-trained basecalling models, is delivering even more accurate genomes.

Get more plant sequencing information, including case studies, getting started guides, and videos, in our Resource centre.

Case study

The importance of structural variation in crop breeding

Brassica napus (oilseed rape) is a major oil crop worldwide, with widespread application in cooking, biofuel, and animal feed. The 1.2 Gb allotetraploid B. napus genome displays extensive gene and chromosome-level structural variation (SV), which underlies important phenotypic traits, such as flowering time, disease resistance, and seed quality. Precise resolution of these SVs could support improvement of this economically important crop. Harmeet Singh Chawla and colleagues at the Justus Liebig University in Germany, utilised long nanopore sequencing reads to fully characterise and compare SVs across four diverse B. napus lines. Initial analysis allowed correlation of average SV length with specific flowering phenotypes, while SV diversity provided further insights into the breeding history of the crop.

'Our results suggest that simple reference-based resequencing and alignment with long reads can uncover a new dimension of genetic and genomic diversity associated with important traits in crop plants'

Chawla, H.S. et al. Biotechnol J. 19:2 (2021)

From enhanced plant genome assembly to support conservation and crop breeding, through to the analysis of gene expression, base modifications, and plant pathogens, get comprehensive information in our Investigations pages.

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Scalable sequencing for plant research

From powerful, portable Flongle and MinION devices to the high-throughput benchtop GridION and PromethION devices— scale your sequencing to match your specific research requirements.

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Recommended for plant sequencing

PromethION 48

Our most powerful device, offering flexible, high-throughput sequencing using up to 48 independent, high-capacity flow cells. PromethION 48 delivers complete genomic and transcriptomic characterisation of large numbers of plant lines.

PromethION 2 & 2 Solo

Offering two independently addressable PromethION Flow Cells for low-cost access to high-output sequencing — ideal smaller sample number plant genome sequencing projects. 

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PromethION 24

Combining up to 24 independently addressable, high-capacity flow cells with powerful, integrated compute — ideal for cost-effective, high-throughput sequencing of large plant genomes and isoform-level transcriptome analyses.

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GridION

From genome assembly to gene expression, run multiple experiments on-demand using five independent MinION Flow Cells — perfect for busy labs running multiple projects.

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MinION

Access the benefits of nanopore technology from just $1,000 — suitable for small plant genomes, targeted sequencing, and gene expression studies.

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MinION Mk1C

Integrated sequencing and analysis in a powerful handheld device — suitable for small plant genomes, targeted sequencing, and gene expression studies.

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Flongle

Adapting MinION and GridION for smaller, routine tests and analyses. Low plex targeted sequencing, RNA isoform analysis, and quality control applications.

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VolTRAX

Automated sample extraction and library preparation.

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