A TEAM of researchers from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines has submitted a gene sequence of a type of fungus found in local mangoes to an international archive.

The Project LAMP of PUP sent its findings on the gene sequence of a Lasiodiplodia variant to global database GenBank.

Lasiodiplodia is a type of fungi that causes dark discoloration on Philippine mangoes.

GenBank is an international open-access database for nucleotide sequences and their protein translations managed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

With this development, PUP joined other Philippine institutions that submitted a study to GenBank. Among these institutions were the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University and University of Santo Tomas.

Assistant Professor Chester Deocaris, one of the researchers, said the gene sequences give scientists and researchers around the world new data to work on.

He stressed that the inclusion of their gene sequences in GenBank is a first for the PUP College of Science, proof that the university can also make contributions in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology.

The team is in the process of submitting three more variants of the Lasiodiplodia DNA isolate to GenBank.