Orion Genomics LLC announced today that it has successfully applied its breakthrough GeneThresher(TM) technology to the huge and previously intractable genome of wheat (Triticum aestivum).

Orion Genomics' GeneThresher technology is a new gene discovery tool that enables the discovery of genes within a plant genome without sequencing the repetitive content. Today's findings indicate that, for the first time, scientists will have a way to study all of the genes in this important crop plant.

Many key traits influencing yield and grain quality have been genetically mapped by wheat breeders over the last 100 years, but effective gene discovery has been hampered by the sheer size of the genome, which contains large quantities of repetitive, non-coding or "junk'' DNA. At more than five times the size of the human genome, the hexaploid wheat genome is one of the largest of the commercially important agricultural crops.

"Previously, Orion Genomics proved that its GeneThresher technology effectively removes the
unwanted non-genic DNA in both the corn and canola genomes, thereby reducing sequencing
requirements by 10 to 15-fold over currently available approaches,'' says Dr. Richard K. Wilson,
Orion Genomics' Chief Executive Officer. "These latest findings reveal that for the wheat genome,
GeneThresher technology provides as much as 80-fold improvement in sequencing efficiency as
compared to other technologies.

"We are very excited by how well GeneThresher is working on the hexaploid wheat genome,'' adds Wilson. "Until now, the size of the wheat genome threatened to severely limit significant advances in breeding and gene-based improvement of this important crop for many years.''

Dr. Michael Gale, Professor, John Innes Center, Norwich, UK says, "Orion's technology does appear to open up new opportunities for wheat genome research, which, because of the large genome size, had previously seemed out of reach. Coupled with our knowledge of cereal genome synteny, we should have clear new paths to gene discovery.''

Orion Genomics' GeneThresher technology allows the company to essentially "shrink'' wheat and other crop genomes down to a size that can be efficiently mapped and sequenced, explains Wilson. He says this reduced size appears to be fairly constant across all plant genomes that Orion Genomics has studied so far.

"Our work with wheat and other plants indicates that genes are largely contained in the unmethylated portion of the genome, which can be accessed directly via GeneThresher sequencing,'' says Dr. Robert A. Martienssen, a co-founder of Orion Genomics and co-inventor of the GeneThresher technology.

"Most importantly, our latest data indicate that this unmethylated portion of the genome, which we refer to as the 'GeneSpace,' appears to be approximately the same size in each crop plant species, regardless of the total size of the genome,'' adds Martienssen. "This has exciting implications for comparative genomics.''

Martienssen will present the company's new data February 25th at the AgroGene Conference in Paris.

Wilson says Orion Genomics' technological approach combines comparative genomics, which utilizes map and sequence data from model organisms to facilitate gene discovery in target plant crops, with the speed and accuracy of GeneThresher sequencing.

"With our recent application of GeneThresher sequencing to hexaploid wheat, we now have the most comprehensive approach to the discovery of genes and their function for the agricultural industry,'' adds Wilson.

In addition to our own gene discovery efforts, Orion Genomics offers subscriptions to Plant
KnowledgeBase(TM), which combines comparative genomics tools from model organisms with a
rapidly expanding portfolio of genome sequence data from a number of crop species such as wheat.

Orion Genomics, LLC was founded in 1998 and holds the exclusive, worldwide commercial rights to the GeneThresher technology. Orion Genomics engages in the discovery and development of
gene-based agricultural products, in collaboration with agricultural companies and in its own proprietary programs.

Company news release
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