Mint Varietal Improvement

Project Goals:..............Develop genomic and germplasm resources for the continued improvement of commercial mint cultivars
Funding:......................Mint Industry Research Council
Collaborators:.............Kelly Vining, Jeremiah Dung, Brent Kronmiller - Oregon State University
....................................Nahla Bassil, Kim Hummer - USDA, National Clonal Germplasm Repository
....................................Ivan Liachko, Zev Kronenberg - Phase Genomics
....................................Zhiwu Zhang - Washington State University

Executive Summary

Mints (Mentha spp.) are important specialty crops, grown in temperate climates for distilled essential oils oils and as aromatic herbs. Commercial cultivars auch as peppermint and spearmint are clonally propagated polyploids, originating from a series of hybridizations, which presents difficulties for both breeding and genetic studies. We are performing crosses between ancestral mint accessions, attempting to generate breeding populations with restored fertility and desirable characteristics (oil composition and Verticillium wilt resistance). These efforts are informed by genotyping and chemotyping diverse mint accessions, genome sequencing, genome-wide association studies, structure-function studies to elucidate the physiology and biochemistry underlying essential oil biosynthesis and disease resistance.

Online Databases

Mint Genomics Resource

Selected Recent Publications

Chen Z., Vining K.J., Qi X., Yu X., Zheng Y., Liu Z., Fang H., Li L., Bai,Y., Liang C., Li W. , Lange B.M. (2021) Genome-wide analysis of terpene synthase gene family in Mentha longifolia and catalytic activity analysis of a single terpene synthase. Genes 12, 518.

Vining K.J., Hummer K.E., Bassil N.V., Lange B.M., Khoury C.K., Carver D. (2020) Crop wild relatives as germplasm resource for cultivar improvement in mint (Mentha L.). Front. Plant Sci. 11, 1217.

Vining K., Pandelova I., Hummer K., Bassil N., Contreras R., Neill K., Chen H., Parrish A.N., Lange B.M. (2019) Genetic diversity survey of Mentha aquatica L. and Mentha suaveolens Ehrh., mint crop ancestors. Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 66, 825-845. Link

Lange B.M., Srividya N. (2019) Enzymology of monoterpene functionalization in glandular trichomes. J. Exp. Bot. 70, 1095-1108.

Vining K.J., Johnson S.R., Ahkami A., Lange I., Parrish A.N., Trapp S.C., Croteau R.B., Straub S.C., Pandelova I., Lange B.M. (2017) Draft genome sequence of Mentha longifolia and development of resources for mint cultivar improvement. Mol. Plant 10, 323-339.

Lange, B.M. (2016) Online resources for gene discovery and biochemical research with aromatic and medicinal plants. Phytochem. Rev. 15, 489-510. Link

Lange B.M. (2015) Biosynthesis and biotechnology of p-menthane monoterpenes, including menthol, carvone and limonene. Adv. Biochem. Eng. Biotechnol. 148, 319-353.

Ahkami A., Johnson S.R., Srividya N., Lange B.M. (2015) Multiple levels of regulation determine monoterpenoid essential oil compositional variation in the mint family. Mol. Plant 8, 188-191.