Project description:We present a developmental transcriptome atlas of little millet. It has superior nutritional properties including high micronutrients (Fe, Zn, Ca, Mn), dietary fiber content, and low glycemic index with potential health prospective. This crop is cultivated by tribal people in the marginal areas, and it is adapted to a wide range of growing environments.
Project description:Little millet is a climate-resilient and high-nutrient value plant. The lack of molecular markers severely limits the adoption of modern genomic approaches in millet breeding studies. Here the transcriptome of three samples were sequenced. A total of 4443 genic-SSR motifs were identified in 30,220 unigene sequences. SSRs were found at a rate of 12.25 percent, with an average of one SSR locus per 10 kb. Among different repeat motifs, tri-nucleotide repeat (66.67) was the most abundant one, followed by di- (27.39P), and tetra- (3.83P) repeats. CDS contained fewer motifs with the majority of tri-nucleotides, while 3' and 5' UTR carry more motifs but have shorter repeats. Functional annotation of unigenes containing microsatellites, revealed that most of them were linked to metabolism, gene expression regulation, and response to environmental stresses. Fifty primers were randomly chosen and validated in five little millet and 20 minor millet genotypes; 48% showed polymorphism, with a high transferability (70%) rate. Identified microsatellites can be a noteworthy resource for future research into QTL-based breeding, genetic resource conservation, MAS selection, and evolutionary genetics.
Project description:Nutri-cereal tissue-specific transcriptome atlas during development: Functional integration of gene expression to identify mineral uptake pathways in little millet (Panicum sumatrense)
Project description:Little millet, Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roem. & Schult., is an important cultivated species under the tribe Paniceae, sub-family Panicoideae and family Poaceae. In this study, for the first time we sequenced the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of P. sumatrense to investigate their phylogenetic relationship in the family Poaceae. The complete cp genome sequence of P. sumatrense is 139,384 bp in length with 38.6% overall GC content and exhibits a typical quadripartite structure comprising one pair of inverted repeats (22,723 bp) separated by a small single-copy region (12,583 bp) and a large single-copy region (81,355 bp). The P. sumatrense cp genome encodes 125 unique genes, which include 91 protein-coding genes, 4 rRNA genes, 30 tRNA genes, and 20 genes were duplicated in the inverted repeat region. This newly determined cp genome (P. sumatrense) could be valuable information for the breeding programs of this cereal crops in the family Poaceae.
Project description:Minor millets are considered as nutrient-rich cereals having significant effect in improving human health. In this study, a rice ortholog of Ferric Chelate Reductase (FRO2) gene involved in plant metal uptake has been identified in iron-rich Little millet (LM) using PCR and next generation sequencing-based strategy. FRO2 gene-specific primers designed from rice genome amplified 2.7 Kb fragment in LM genotype RLM-37. Computational genomics analyses of the sequenced amplicon showed high level sequence similarity with rice OsFRO2 gene. The predicted gene structure showed the presence of 6 exons and 5 introns and its protein sequence was found to contain ferric reductase and NOX_Duox_Like_FAD_NADP domains. Further, 3D structure analysis of FCR-LM model protein (494 amino acids) shows that it has 18 helices, 10 beta sheets, 10 strands, 41 beta turn and 5 gamma turn with slight deviation from the FCR-Os structure. Besides, the structures of FCR-LM and FCR-Os were modelled followed by molecular dynamics simulations. The overall study revealed both sequence and structural similarity between the identified gene and OsFRO2. Thus, a putative ferric chelate reductase gene has been identified in LM paving the way for using this approach for identification of orthologs of other metal genes from millets. This also facilitates mining of effective alleles of known genes for improvement of staple crops like rice.