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Agrigenomics

Drive innovation in agriculture like never before by harnessing the full power of genomics

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Agrigenomics solutions

Whether your focus is crop or livestock breeding, genetic engineering, or pest and disease mitigation, HiFi sequencing delivers genomic data of exceptional quality and detail to meet the demands of your most ambitious research programs.

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Genomic breeding

Use HiFi sequencing to breed better by quickly assembling phased reference-quality genomes for the imputation of the most desirable complex traits.

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Genetic engineering of plants + animals

Create high-quality reference genomes, validate constructs, confirm edits, and evaluate off-target effects quickly and reliably with HiFi reads.

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Pest + disease research

Dig into genomes and transcriptomes of exceptional quality and specificity. Uncover hard-to-find novel genes responsible for traits like immunity, metabolic detoxification, and pesticide resistance.

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Tackle global challenges to feed a growing population

As the challenges of a growing global population and a changing climate mount, cutting-edge agricultural biotechnology is needed to drive scientific advances to sustainably feed our world.

At PacBio, we provide state-of-the-art genome sequencing solutions that enable you to uncover and harness agrigenomic insights from data of exceptional quality and detail.

Use these biological insights to enhance marker development, facilitate the production of more nutritious foods, safe-guard environmental health, and increase agricultural yields for the world of tomorrow, today.

Featured publication

High-resolution trait mapping with HiFi sequencing Low-coverage HiFi sequencing enables high-resolution trait mapping in complex crop genomes

A recent study demonstrates how low-coverage PacBio HiFi long-read sequencing delivers deeper genomic insight than short-read approaches for trait mapping in plant breeding programs. Using peanut as a model system, researchers show that long-read low-pass sequencing improves genome and gene space coverage, increases variant discovery across scales, and provides greater insight per cost unit compared to short reads.

Key findings include:

  • HiFi low-pass sequencing achieved substantially higher genome and gene space coverage than short-read low-pass sequencing at comparable depth
  • HiFi data identified many more SNPs, indels, and structural variants than short reads, improving trait-linked variant discovery
  • Cost-effectiveness analysis showed greater insight per dollar for long-read low-pass sequencing in breeding applications

Why this matters for agrigenomics
This work highlights how scalable, low-pass HiFi sequencing can support high-resolution trait mapping and variant discovery in complex plant genomes, making advanced genomic insight more accessible for breeding and crop improvement programs.

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Common questions about genomics in agriculture

A pangenome is a collection of genomes from a population of species that represents the genetic diversity of the population. Pangenomes typically are 20-30 genomes depending on the biodiversity of the population. Pangenomes obtained through HiFi sequencing can be resolved into haplotype databases for enhanced trait imputation for desirable phenotypes for breeding.

Whole genome sequencing, transcriptome sequencing, epigenomics, metagenomics, and the targeted sequencing of plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and complex populations can all be leveraged for your agricultural research in different areas. This includes breeding, pest management, and genome engineering.

Genome engineering, or gene editing, is a process where scientists can change the genetic information of agriculturally important species with biomolecular tools such as CRISPR-Cas9. HiFi sequencing can help you validate where edits are made on a genome-wide or targeted basis. It can also help you design more efficient workflows with extremely accurate genomic information.

HiFi sequencing enables agriscientists to generate haplotype-resolved, high-quality genomes that span most variant types. Complex traits, such as drought resistance and pest resistance, can be explained by a combination of genes, structural variants, copy number variants, and more. Agriscientists can harness this genetic information to inform marker development.

Agrigenomics in action

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Whole genome sequencing best practices

See recommended workflows for procuring reference-quality genomes, de novo.

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How long-read sequencing informs the future of food from genome to table

Long-read sequencing reveals genetic variation that shapes crop and livestock traits, supporting breeding strategies for resilience, yield, and sustainability. This blog explores how HiFi sequencing enables pangenomes, haplotype-resolved assemblies, and population-scale studies across agricultural species.

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Long-read sequencing uncovers previously inaccessible variation in cattle genomes

Structural variation represents a major source of genetic diversity in cattle but has been difficult to study using single-reference approaches. This 2025 review describes how long-read sequencing, pangenome graph construction, and near-complete assemblies enable accurate detection and genotyping of structural variants linked to economically important traits.

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Explore

Did you know we have a library of articles, reports, papers, and videos related to plant + animal genomics?

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“Advances in long read sequencing, pangenome graph construction, and near complete genome assemblies now allow accurate SV detection and genotyping.”

— Liu, G. E., Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, 2025

AGRIGENOMICS CORNER

Discover the latest updates across agrigenomics, from new publications and blog articles to videos and technical highlights. Learn how genomics advances breeding, protects crops and livestock, and improves accuracy across agricultural research workflows.

Agrigenomics for crop + livestock breeding

Unlock whole-new capabilities for your plant or animal breeding programs with long, high-quality, genomic reads made possible with HiFi sequencing.

• Build reference-quality, haplotype-resolved pangenomes for breeding.
• Impute desirable traits to SNPs, structural variants, and complex genotypes.
• Capture genomic variants on a genome-wide scale for outbreds, inbreds, and populations.

PAS Brochure    New Publication

Agrigenomics for genome engineering

Obtain the detailed sequence information you need for your most sophisticated gene editing programs using highly accurate HiFi sequencing data.

• Speed up design workflows with accurate reference genomes.
• Find splice variants within the transcriptome.
• Validate edited sites.
• Capture on and off-target effects.
• Determine structural rearrangements across chromosomes.

Flyer: PAS gene editing   Read publication

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Agrigenomics for pest + disease research

Find genomic clues hidden in the highly variable genetics of organisms such as insects, weeds, and fungi harming agricultural yield to tackle pests on the molecular level.

• Capture pest genomic diversity in incredible detail.
Generate complete genome assemblies from just 1 ng of DNA input.
• Build annotations to better understand gene functions for targeting.

Blog: Pest + disease research   Read publication

Agrigenomics applications

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Whole genome sequencing

Quickly and affordably create more complete, contiguous, and correct de novo assemblies of even the most complex genomes.

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Structural variant calling

Acquire high-sensitivity variant calls with low false discovery rates to gain actionable insights across populations.

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Targeted sequencing

Combine long-read sequencing with targeted sequence capture for a more comprehensive view of specific genomic regions of interest, regardless of size.

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RNA sequencing

Leverage the isoform sequence (Iso-Seq) method using the Kinnex RNA kit to obtain full-length cDNA sequences — from 5’ to the poly-A tail — to confidently characterize the full transcriptome.

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THIS IS YOUR MOMENT

Our highly differentiated portfolio of sequencing systems offer exceptional accuracy for insights into a changing planet.

From the fullest picture to the finest detail, your moment of discovery is waiting.

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