Incyte And Zeneca Partner On Agrigenomics

Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Palo Alto) and Zeneca, which will soon merge with Astra and change its name to AstraZeneca (see: Astra, Zeneca To Merge), have extended their research collaboration on agrigenomics, the study of how genes work together to produce crop plants. This collaboration extends the existing pharmaceutical collaboration between Incyte and Zeneca, which was initiated in 1996, with agreements covering access to several Incyte database products.

Under the multi-year collaboration, Zeneca will have access to Incyte's PhytoSeq database. Incyte will apply its high-throughput gene sequencing and bioinformatics capabilities towards the generation of gene sequence and expression information for crop plants designated by Zeneca, to be included in PhytoSeq. The database will store sequence information from a range of agriculturally important crops including wheat, maize and rice.

Zeneca will also have access to Incyte's microarray technology for the study of gene pathways and to monitor gene expression in plants. Incyte will provide Zeneca with data from both custom and pre-fabricated microarrays. This will provide an unprecedented level of information, allowing researchers at Zeneca to study multigenic pathways or thousands of genes at a time, in a single experiment.

Incyte's GEM array (10,000-compound version shown) is used with other Incyte products to classify genes

David Evans, Research and Development director, Zeneca Agrochemicals, said "This collaboration opens up an exciting new area in our work with Incyte. PhytoSeq will provide a major driver for the research programs at our existing research centers at Jealott's Hill (UK) and Leiden (NL) and also our new Zeneca Laboratory which is being built at the John Innes Centre in Norwich (UK)."

Roy A. Whitfield, Incyte's chief executive officer believes PhytoSeq will strengthen the link between genetics and plant science. "This is an exciting time in the industry where we can apply powerful genomics technologies, such as sequencing, bioinformatics and microarray technology, in an integrated format to develop a comprehensive program targeted towards agricultural research."

PhytoSeq

Today's genetic research begins at the computer, where scientists can study biology thousands of genes at a time. PhytoSeq's database contains gene sequence and expression information for plant genomes, assisting plant biologists in their search for traits that might increase the quality, yield, drought tolerance, and disease resistance of agricultural crops.

Screen shot of PhytoSeq

PhytoSeq software provides the data and enabling tools for exploring plant gene expression information, including the electronic equivalents of biological experiments such as Northern Blots and Library Subtractions. Using simple point-and-click commands, researchers can navigate through the database to retrieve vital information in just seconds, a technique Incyte calls "biology in silico," eliminating weeks of work in a traditional laboratory.

The sequence analysis and assembly tools built into PhytoSeq software also allow scientists to compare gene sequences, to assign putative functional characteristics, to assemble consensus sequences, to identify polymorphisms, and even to "clone" new genes—again, in silicon rather than in test tubes. PhytoSeq's Java-enabled template viewers give users access to results from BLAST searches for putative homologs and splice variants, allowing the determination of small, nucleotide-level differences among genes.

For more information: Denise Gilbert, chief financial officer, Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 3174 Porter Drive, Palo Alto, California 94304. Tel: 650-845-4515. Fax: 650-855-0572.