Genomic language model-based genomic prediction in plant breeding

Genomic prediction based on molecular markers has substantially advanced genomic selection; however, prediction accuracy often plateaus despite continued increases in marker density and methodological refinement. This saturation limits the effective use of available genomic information. The emergence of genomic language models (GLMs) offers a new framework for incorporating richer sequence-based information into genomic prediction, potentially capturing biologically meaningful DNA sequence grammar that is poorly represented by traditional marker-based approaches. We conclude that the future of genomic prediction will be shaped not primarily by algorithmic refinement but by the biological expressivity of genomic representations, and that GLMs offer a principled path toward expanding this representational frontier.

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Publication Details

Journal
Trends in Plant Science
Published
2026-05-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2026.04.012
Primary Topic
Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Genomic language model-based genomic prediction in plant breeding

Rajeev Kumar Varshney, Yunbi Xu, Hui Li, José Crossa et al.
Trends in Plant Science
Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
article

Genomic language model-based genomic prediction in plant breeding

Rajeev Kumar Varshney, Yunbi Xu, Hui Li, José Crossa, Ganesan Alagarasan
article en

Abstract

Genomic prediction based on molecular markers has substantially advanced genomic selection; however, prediction accuracy often plateaus despite continued increases in marker density and methodological refinement. This saturation limits the effective use of available genomic information. The emergence of genomic language models (GLMs) offers a new framework for incorporating richer sequence-based information into genomic prediction, potentially capturing biologically meaningful DNA sequence grammar that is poorly represented by traditional marker-based approaches. We conclude that the future of genomic prediction will be shaped not primarily by algorithmic refinement but by the biological expressivity of genomic representations, and that GLMs offer a principled path toward expanding this representational frontier.

Trends in Plant Science
Murdoch University (AU), Colegio de Postgraduados (MX), Institute of Crop Sciences (CN)
Grains Research and Development Corporation, Hort Innovation
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
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