Publications of NIPGR Scientists

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Author: search.filters.author.Muthamilarasan, MehanathanSubject: search.filters.subject.Crop improvement

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    Genome sequencing efforts in minor millets: Current knowledge and emerging insights
    (Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2025) Singh, Roshan Kumar; Panchal, Anurag; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Prasad, Manoj
    Small millets (or minor millets) include finger millet (Eleusine coracana), foxtail millet (Setaria italica), proso millet (Panicum miliaceum), barnyard millet (Echinochloa crus-galli), kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum), little millet (Panicum sumatrense), teff (Eragrostis tef), fonio (Digitaria exilis), job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), guinea millet (Brachiaria deflexa), and browntop millet (Urochloa ramosa). These millets are highly nutritious and climate-resilient but marginally cultivated for the production and consumption of particular communities. Though called “poor men’s crops,” minor millets possess the potential to ensure food and nutritional security amid the threat of global climate change. Thus, scope exists to improve the agronomic traits of these minor millets for commercial cultivation; however, lack of genomic resources remains a bottleneck to this advancement. Genome sequencing not only provides an opportunity to decode the genes encoded by the genome, but also provides avenue for the development of genomic resources. The success of genome sequencing for resource development and further implementation of these resources have been proven in other crop plants. Among minor millets, genomes of a few species have been sequenced, including finger millet, foxtail millet, proso millet, barnyard millet, teff, fonio, and job’s tears. However, the genomes of kodo millet, little millet, guinea millet, and browntop millet remains to be sequenced. In this context, the chapter summarizes the outcomes of sequencing efforts and the application of genome sequence information in accelerating genomics studies in minor millets. The chapter also enumerates the status of transcriptome sequencing and its application in dissecting the genes underlying important traits.
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    Biotechnological approaches to dissect climate-resilient traits in millets and their application in crop improvement
    (Elsevier B.V., 2021) Singh, Roshan Kumar; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Prasad, Manoj
    'Small millets' is a generic term that includes all the millets except pearl millet and sorghum. These small or minor millets constitute eleven species that are marginally cultivated and consumed worldwide. These small millets possess excellent agronomic-, climate-resilient, and nutritional traits, although they lack popularity. Small millets withstand a broad spectrum of environmental stresses and possess better water-use and nitrogen-use efficiencies. Of note, small millets are five- to seven-fold nutritionally rich in terms of protein, bioactive compounds, micro- and macro-nutrients as compared to major cereals. Irrespective of these merits, small millets have received little research attention compared to major millets and cereals. However, the knowledge generated from such studies is significant for the improvement of millets per se and for translating the information to improve major cereals through breeding and transgene-based approaches. Given this, the review enumerates the efforts invested in dissecting the climate-resilient traits in small millets and provides a roadmap for deploying the information in crop improvement of millets as well as cereals in the scenario of climate change.