Publications of NIPGR Scientists

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    Genome-wide association study of major agronomic traits in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) using ddRAD sequencing
    (Springer Nature, 2019) Jaiswal, Vandana; Gupta, Sarika; Gahlaut, Vijay; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Bandyopadhyay, Tirthankar; Ramchiary, Nirala; Prasad, Manoj
    Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), the second largest cultivated millet crop after pearl millet, is utilized for food and forage globally. Further, it is also considered as a model crop for studying agronomic, nutritional and biofuel traits. In the present study, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed for ten important agronomic traits in 142 foxtail millet core eco-geographically diverse genotypes using 10 K SNPs developed through GBS-ddRAD approach. Number of SNPs on individual chromosome ranged from 844 (chromosome 5) to 2153 (chromosome 8) with an average SNP frequency of 25.9 per Mb. The pairwise linkage disequilibrium (LD) estimated using the squared-allele frequency correlations was found to decay rapidly with the genetic distance of 177 Kb. However, for individual chromosome, LD decay distance ranged from 76 Kb (chromosome 6) to 357 Kb (chromosome 4). GWAS identified 81 MTAs (marker-trait associations) for ten traits across the genome. High confidence MTAs for three important agronomic traits including FLW (flag leaf width), GY (grain yield) and TGW (thousand-grain weight) were identified. Significant pyramiding effect of identified MTAs further supplemented its importance in breeding programs. Desirable alleles and superior genotypes identified in the present study may prove valuable for foxtail millet improvement through marker-assisted selection.
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    Global analysis of WRKY transcription factor superfamily in Setaria identifies potential candidates involved in abiotic stress signaling
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2015) Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Bonthala, Venkata S.; Khandelwal, Rohit; Jaishankar, Jananee; Shweta, Shweta; Nawaz, Kashif; Prasad, Manoj
    Transcription factors (TFs) are major players in stress signaling and constitute an integral part of signaling networks. Among the major TFs, WRKY proteins play pivotal roles in regulation of transcriptional reprogramming associated with stress responses. In view of this, genome- and transcriptome-wide identification of WRKY TF family was performed in the C4model plants, Setaria italica (SiWRKY) and S. viridis (SvWRKY), respectively. The study identified 105 SiWRKY and 44 SvWRKY proteins that were computationally analyzed for their physicochemical properties. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis classified these proteins into three major groups, namely I, II, and III with majority of WRKY proteins belonging to group II (53 SiWRKY and 23 SvWRKY), followed by group III (39 SiWRKY and 11 SvWRKY) and group I (10 SiWRKY and 6 SvWRKY). Group II proteins were further classified into 5 subgroups (IIa to IIe) based on their phylogeny. Domain analysis showed the presence of WRKY motif and zinc finger-like structures in these proteins along with additional domains in a few proteins. All SiWRKY genes were physically mapped on the S. italica genome and their duplication analysis revealed that 10 and 8 gene pairs underwent tandem and segmental duplications, respectively. Comparative mapping of SiWRKY and SvWRKY genes in related C4 panicoid genomes demonstrated the orthologous relationships between these genomes. In silico expression analysis of SiWRKY and SvWRKY genes showed their differential expression patterns in different tissues and stress conditions. Expression profiling of candidate SiWRKY genes in response to stress (dehydration and salinity) and hormone treatments (abscisic acid, salicylic acid, and methyl jasmonate) suggested the putative involvement of SiWRKY066 and SiWRKY082 in stress and hormone signaling. These genes could be potential candidates for further characterization to delineate their functional roles in abiotic stress signaling.
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    Unraveling 14-3-3 proteins in C4 panicoids with emphasis on model plant Setaria italica reveals phosphorylation-dependent subcellular localization of RS splicing factor
    (PLOS, 2015) Kumar, Karunesh; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Bonthala, Venkata Suresh; Roy, Riti; Prasad, Manoj
    14-3-3 proteins are a large multigenic family of regulatory proteins ubiquitously found in eukaryotes. In plants, 14-3-3 proteins are reported to play significant role in both development and response to stress stimuli. Therefore, considering their importance, genome-wide analyses have been performed in many plants including Arabidopsis, rice and soybean. But, till date, no comprehensive investigation has been conducted in any C4 panicoid crops. In view of this, the present study was performed to identify 8, 5 and 26 potential 14-3-3 gene family members in foxtail millet (Si14-3-3), sorghum (Sb14-3-3) and maize (Zm14-3-3), respectively. In silico characterization revealed large variations in their gene structures; segmental and tandem duplications have played a major role in expansion of these genes in foxtail millet and maize. Gene ontology annotation showed the participation of 14-3-3 proteins in diverse biological processes and molecular functions, and in silico expression profiling indicated their higher expression in all the investigated tissues. Comparative mapping was performed to derive the orthologous relationships between 14-3-3 genes of foxtail millet and other Poaceae members, which showed a higher, as well as similar percentage of orthology among these crops. Expression profiling of Si14-3-3 genes during different time-points of abiotic stress and hormonal treatments showed a differential expression pattern of these genes, and sub-cellular localization studies revealed the site of action of Si14-3-3 proteins within the cells. Further downstream characterization indicated the interaction of Si14-3-3 with a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling phosphoprotein (SiRSZ21A) in a phosphorylation-dependent manner, and this demonstrates that Si14-3-3 might regulate the splicing events by binding with phosphorylated SiRSZ21A. Taken together, the present study is a comprehensive analysis of 14-3-3 gene family members in foxtail millet, sorghum and maize, which provides interesting information on their gene structure, protein domains, phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships, and expression patterns during abiotic stresses and hormonal treatments, which could be useful in choosing candidate members for further functional characterization. In addition, demonstration of interaction between Si14-3-3 and SiRSZ21A provides novel clues on the involvement of 14-3-3 proteins in the splicing events.
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    FmMDb: A versatile database of foxtail millet markers for millets and bioenergy grasses research
    (PLOS, 2013) Suresh B, Venkata; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Misra, Gopal; Prasad, Manoj
    The prominent attributes of foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) including its small genome size, short life cycle, inbreeding nature, and phylogenetic proximity to various biofuel crops have made this crop an excellent model system to investigate various aspects of architectural, evolutionary and physiological significances in Panicoid bioenergy grasses. After release of its whole genome sequence, large-scale genomic resources in terms of molecular markers were generated for the improvement of both foxtail millet and its related species. Hence it is now essential to congregate, curate and make available these genomic resources for the benefit of researchers and breeders working towards crop improvement. In view of this, we have constructed the Foxtail millet Marker Database (FmMDb; http://www.nipgr.res.in/foxtail.html), a comprehensive online database for information retrieval, visualization and management of large-scale marker datasets with unrestricted public access. FmMDb is the first database which provides complete marker information to the plant science community attempting to produce elite cultivars of millet and bioenergy grass species, thus addressing global food insecurity.
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    Development of eSSR-markers in Setaria italica and their applicability in studying genetic diversity, cross-transferability and comparative mapping in millet and non-millet species
    (PLOS, 2013) Kumari, Kajal; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Misra, Gopal; Gupta, Sarika; Subramanian, Alagesan; Parida, Swarup K.; Chattopadhyay, Debasis; Prasad, Manoj
    Foxtail millet (Setariaitalica L.) is a tractable experimental model crop for studying functional genomics of millets and bioenergy grasses. But the limited availability of genomic resources, particularly expressed sequence-based genic markers is significantly impeding its genetic improvement. Considering this, we attempted to develop EST-derived-SSR (eSSR) markers and utilize them in germplasm characterization, cross-genera transferability and in silico comparative mapping. From 66,027 foxtail millet EST sequences 24,828 non-redundant ESTs were deduced, representing ~16 Mb, which revealed 534 (~2%) eSSRs in 495 SSR containing ESTs at a frequency of 1/30 kb. A total of 447 pp were successfully designed, of which 327 were mapped physically onto nine chromosomes. About 106 selected primer pairs representing the foxtail millet genome showed high-level of cross-genera amplification at an average of ~88% in eight millets and four non-millet species. Broad range of genetic diversity (0.02-0.65) obtained in constructed phylogenetic tree using 40 eSSR markers demonstrated its utility in germplasm characterizations and phylogenetics. Comparative mapping of physically mapped eSSR markers showed considerable proportion of sequence-based orthology and syntenic relationship between foxtail millet chromosomes and sorghum (~68%), maize (~61%) and rice (~42%) chromosomes. Synteny analysis of eSSRs of foxtail millet, rice, maize and sorghum suggested the nested chromosome fusion frequently observed in grass genomes. Thus, for the first time we had generated large-scale eSSR markers in foxtail millet and demonstrated their utility in germplasm characterization, transferability, phylogenetics and comparative mapping studies in millets and bioenergy grass species.
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    Reference genes for quantitative real-time PCR analysis in the model plant foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) subjected to abiotic stress conditions
    (Springer, 2013) Kumar, Karunesh; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Prasad, Manoj
    Reference genes are standards for quantifying gene expression through quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR); however, the variation observed in their expression levels is the major hindrance towards realising their effective use. Hence, a systematic validation of reference genes is required to ensure proper normalization. However, no such study has been conducted in foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.)], which has recently emerged as a model crop for genetic and genomic studies. In the present study, 8 commonly used reference genes were evaluated, including 18S ribosomal RNA, elongation factor-1α, Actin2, alpha tubulin, beta tubulin, translation factor, RNA polymerase II and adenine phosphoribosyl transferase. Expression stability of candidate internal control genes was investigated under salinity and dehydration treatments. The results obtained suggested a wide range of Ct values and variable expression of all reference genes. geNorm and NormFinder analysis had revealed that Act2 and RNA POL II are suitable reference genes for salinity stress-related studies and EF-1α and RNA POL II are appropriate internal controls for dehydration stress-related expression analyses. These qualified reference genes has also been validated for relative quantification of 14-3-3 expression analysis which demonstrated their applicability. Thus, this is the first report on selection and validation of superior reference genes for qRT-PCR in foxtail millet under different abiotic stress conditions.