Publications of NIPGR Scientists

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    Progress of genomics-driven approaches for sustaining underutilized legume crops in the post-genomic era
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2022) Jha, Uday Chand; Nayyar, Harsh; Parida, Swarup K.; Bakır, Melike; von Wettberg, Eric J. B.; Siddique, Kadambot H. M.
    Legume crops, belonging to the Fabaceae family, are of immense importance for sustaining global food security. Many legumes are profitable crops for smallholder farmers due to their unique ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and their intrinsic ability to thrive on marginal land with minimum inputs and low cultivation costs. Recent progress in genomics shows promise for future genetic gains in major grain legumes. Still it remains limited in minor legumes/underutilized legumes, including adzuki bean, cluster bean, horse gram, lathyrus, red clover, urd bean, and winged bean. In the last decade, unprecedented progress in completing genome assemblies of various legume crops and resequencing efforts of large germplasm collections has helped to identify the underlying gene(s) for various traits of breeding importance for enhancing genetic gain and contributing to developing climate-resilient cultivars. This review discusses the progress of genomic resource development, including genome-wide molecular markers, key breakthroughs in genome sequencing, genetic linkage maps, and trait mapping for facilitating yield improvement in underutilized legumes. We focus on 1) the progress in genomic-assisted breeding, 2) the role of whole-genome resequencing, pangenomes for underpinning the novel genomic variants underlying trait gene(s), 3) how adaptive traits of wild underutilized legumes could be harnessed to develop climate-resilient cultivars, 4) the progress and status of functional genomics resources, deciphering the underlying trait candidate genes with putative function in underutilized legumes 5) and prospects of novel breeding technologies, such as speed breeding, genomic selection, and genome editing. We conclude the review by discussing the scope for genomic resources developed in underutilized legumes to enhance their production and play a critical role in achieving the “zero hunger” sustainable development goal by 2030 set by the United Nations.
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    Genetics and genomics interventions for promoting millets as functional foods
    (Bentham Science, 2021) Dhaka, Annvi; Singh, Roshan Kumar; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Prasad, Manoj
    Several crops, including millets with immense nutritional and therapeutic values, were once a part of our regular diet. However, due to domestication and selection pressures, many of them have become marginally cultivated crops confined to a particular region, race, or locality. Millets are a perfect example of neglected species that have the potential to address both food and nutritional insecurities prevalent among the ever-growing global population. Starvation and malnutrition contribute to a large number of health-related issues, being the main reason behind the occurrence of most of the severe diseases worldwide. These constraints are repeatedly disturbing both the social and economic health of global society. Naturally, millets are rich in minerals, nutrients, and bioactive compounds, and these crops are less dependent on synthetic fertilizers, systemic irrigation, and pest/weed control. Given this, the review emphasizes the nutritional values, health benefits, processing techniques, and genomic advancements of millets. In addition, it proposes a roadmap for enhancing the utility and commercialization of millets.
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    Sensing and signalling in plant stress responses: ensuring sustainable food security in an era of climate change
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2020) Pareek, Ashwani; Joshi, Rohit; Gupta, Kapuganti Jagadis; Singla-Pareek, Sneh L.; Foyer, Christine
    ‘EMBO India Symposium ‘Sensing and signalling in plant stress response’ held in New Delhi, India, 15–17 April 2019 Agriculture in the 21stcentury faces multiple challenges from biotic and abiotic stresses, which impose major constraints on crop yield. Under field conditions, the combined or sequential occurrence of environmental stresses poses a serious threat to global food security. Plants exhibit plasticity in their responses to environmental stresses, which may be attributed to their genetic and/or epigenetic makeup. One of the major challenges facing plant biology today concerns how gene regulatory networks function to generate morphological and adaptive diversity. Gaining a better understanding of the responses of crop plants to environmental stresses will allow the identification of improved genetic markers to increase yield stability and enhance productivity over a wide range of growth conditions. The availability of high-throughput sequencing technologies provides an opportunity to uncover the genetic/epigenetic basis of plant stress responses and adaptation. Furthermore, dissection of the molecular mechanisms underlying resilience will help us understand how plants cope with extreme environmental conditions, and ultimately lead to the development of climatesmart crops. Understanding the sensing and signalling mechanisms that plants use to perceive and respond appropriately to stress is crucial for the development of stress-resistant crops using current strategies and technologies.
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    Small millets for enduring food security amidst pandemics
    (Elsevier B.V., 2021) Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Prasad, Manoj
    Highlights Over-reliance on a small number of major cereals impacts on the food and nutritional security of the global population, particularly during abnormal situations. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic challenges the lives and livelihood of marginal communities by limiting their access to these crops. Diversification of food crops is necessary to address food and nutritional security, and promoting the cultivation of alternative crops in marginal areas is imperative. Food security is an ongoing problem, and current staple foods are not sufficient to overcome challenges such as the present COVID-19 pandemic. We propose here that small millets have the potential to become new staple crops, especially in hunger hotspots. Currently, the absence of intensification of millet farming, lack of deployment of genetic tools for trait improvement, and the need for optimization of storage and supply chains limit crop production. We highlight a roadmap to strengthen small millet cultivation, such as identifying varieties suitable for particular environments and targeting trait improvement using genetic and genomic approaches. These approaches will help to combat hunger and malnutrition and also economically benefit the farmers and stakeholders involved in small millet cultivation amidst the ongoing pandemic.
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    India needs genetic modification technology in agriculture
    (Indian Academy of Sciences, 2019) Datta, S.; Dhillon, B. S.; Gautam, P. L.; Karihaloo, J. L.; Mahadevappa, M.; Mayee, C. D.; Padmanaban, G.; Parida, A.; Paroda, R. S.; Sharma, M.; Sharma, T. R.; Singh, N. K.; Singh, R. B.; Sonti, Ramesh V.; Tyagi, Akhilesh K.; Varma, A.; Veluthambi, K.
    India does not have a clear stand on the release and consumption of genetically modified crops (food). The only approved crop is Bt-cotton, which has put India on the global map as a cotton exporting country. Even so, Bt-brinjal is under moratorium and GM mustard is prevented from undergoing commercial trial. All these decisions are not based on sound scientific principles. Activism against has successfully prevented exploitation of a powerful technology that can contribute to India’s food and nutrition security. This article attempts to give a balanced perspective of genetic modification technology as one of the serious options to be considered on case to case basis. Ambivalence will seriously affect India’s food security in the future.
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    Millets for next generation climate-smart agriculture
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2017) Bandyopadhyay, Tirthankar; Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Prasad, Manoj
    Panicoids (subfamily: panicoideae) are a group of C4 grasses, which include agronomically important crops such as sorghum and maize, bioenergy feedstocks including sugarcane and miscanthus, nutri-cereals such as millets, and biofuel crops including switchgrass, napier grass and guinea grass. Among these, millets are known for their climate-resilient features including adaptation to a wide range of ecological conditions, less irrigational requirements, better growth and productivity in low nutrient input conditions, less reliance on synthetic fertilizers, and minimum vulnerability to environmental stresses (Kole et al., 2015). Also, millets are nutritionally superior to other major cereals as they are rich in dietary fibers, resistant starches, vitamins, essential amino acids, storage proteins and other bioactive compounds (Amadou et al., 2013). These attributes have made millets a crop of choice for cultivation in arid and semi-arid regions of the world; however, the less attempt has been made to study the climate-resilient features of millets compared to other major cereals. Among millets, foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and its wild progenitor, green foxtail (S. viridis) are extensively studied since they are considered as models for studying the traits related to C4 photosynthesis, stress biology, and bioenergy characteristics (Muthamilarasan and Prasad, 2015). The availability of genome sequence information of these two species (Bennetzen et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2012) has unlocked the wealth of information pertaining to stress tolerance and biofuel characteristics. It has also expedited the development of large-scale genomic resources for crop improvement. On the other hand, studies on other millets are still in their infancy. The challenge to feed the ever-growing population with a healthy balanced diet and the threats faced by agricultural crops due to changing climate highlight the immediate requirement to exploit the beneficial attributes of millets. This could be utilized for the improvement of millets per se as well as other related grass species. The extensive gene-level synteny shared between the grass genomes would facilitate the transfer and introgression of useful genes, alleles and quantitative trait loci (QTL) of agronomic importance identified in millets to other major cereals. In the above context, this article advocates for initiating extensive research on millets to dissect their agronomic, nutritional as well as stress tolerance traits and develop strategies to transfer the useful traits to cultivated major cereals such as rice, wheat, maize, and sorghum.