On-farm crop diversity, conservation, importance and value: a case study of landraces from Western Ghats of Karnataka, India.

Landraces are important genetic resources that have a significant role in maintaining the long-term sustainability of traditional agro-ecosystems, food, nutrition, and livelihood security. In an effort to document landraces in the on-farm conservation context, Central Western Ghat region in India was surveyed. A total of 671 landraces belonging to 60 crops were recorded from 24 sites. The custodian farmers were found to conserve a variety of crops including vegetables, cereals and pulses, perennial fruits, spices, tuber and plantation crops. The survey indicated a difference in the prevalence of landraces across the sites. A significant difference with respect to the Shannon-diversity index, Gini-Simpson index, evenness, species richness, and abundance was observed among the different survey sites. Computation of a prevalence index indicated the need for immediate intervention in the form of collecting and ex situ conservation of landraces of some crops as a back-up to on-farm conservation. The study also identified the critical determinants of on-farm conservation, including (i) suitability to regional conditions, (ii) relevance in regional cuisine and local medicinal practices, (iii) cultural and traditional significance, and (iv) economic advantage. The information documented in this study is expected to promote the collection and conservation of landraces ex situ. The National Genebank housed at ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi conserves around 550 accessions of landraces collected from the Central Western Ghats region surveyed in this report. Information collected from custodian farmers on specific uses will be helpful to enhance the utilization of these accessions.

A review of artificial intelligence-assisted omics techniques in plant defense: current trends and future directions.

Plants intricately deploy defense systems to counter diverse biotic and abiotic stresses. Omics technologies, spanning genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, have revolutionized the exploration of plant defense mechanisms, unraveling molecular intricacies in response to various stressors. However, the complexity and scale of omics data necessitate sophisticated analytical tools for meaningful insights. This review delves into the application of artificial intelligence algorithms, particularly machine learning and deep learning, as promising approaches for deciphering complex omics data in plant defense research. The overview encompasses key omics techniques and addresses the challenges and limitations inherent in current AI-assisted omics approaches. Moreover, it contemplates potential future directions in this dynamic field. In summary, AI-assisted omics techniques present a robust toolkit, enabling a profound understanding of the molecular foundations of plant defense and paving the way for more effective crop protection strategies amidst climate change and emerging diseases.

MethSemble-6mA: an ensemble-based 6mA prediction server and its application on promoter region of LBD gene family in Poaceae.

The Lateral Organ Boundaries Domain (LBD) containing genes are a set of plant-specific transcription factors and are crucial for controlling both organ development and defense mechanisms as well as anthocyanin synthesis and nitrogen metabolism. It is imperative to understand how methylation regulates gene expression, through predicting methylation sites of their promoters particularly in major crop species. In this study, we developed a user-friendly prediction server for accurate prediction of 6mA sites by incorporating a robust feature set, viz., Binary Encoding of Mono-nucleotide DNA. Our model,MethSemble-6mA, outperformed other state-of-the-art tools in terms of accuracy (93.12%). Furthermore, we investigated the pattern of probable 6mA sites at the upstream promoter regions of the LBD-containing genes in Triticum aestivum and its allied species using the developed tool. On average, each selected species had four 6mA sites, and it was found that with speciation and due course of evolution in wheat, the frequency of methylation have reduced, and a few sites remain conserved. This obviously cues gene birth and gene expression alteration through methylation over time in a species and reflects functional conservation throughout evolution. Since DNA methylation is a vital event in almost all plant developmental processes (e.g., genomic imprinting and gametogenesis) along with other life processes, our findings on epigenetic regulation of LBD-containing genes have dynamic implications in basic and applied research. Additionally, MethSemble-6mA (http://cabgrid.res.in:5799/) will serve as a useful resource for a plant breeders who are interested to pursue epigenetic-based crop improvement research.

In-silico study of protein-protein interactions in wheat blast using docking and molecular dynamics simulation approach.

Despite advancements in agricultural research and the introduction of modern biotechnological and farming techniques, food security remains a significant issue. Although the efforts of farmers to meet the demands of a growing population, many plant diseases caused by pathogens, through their effects on cell division and tissue growth, lead to the annual loss of countless food crops. The recently emerged wheat blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype Triticum (MoT) poses a significant danger to worldwide wheat cultivation. The fungus is a highly varied lineage of the M. oryzae, responsible for causing rice blast disease. In spite of being a significant challenge to successful wheat production in South America since 1985, the underlying biology of the wheat blast pathogen is still not fully understood. The initial outbreak of the wheat blast in South Asia had a severe impact on wheat production, resulting in a complete loss of yield in affected fields. For the purpose of enhancing disease management, it's vital to acquire a comprehensive comprehension of the infection biology of the fungus and its interaction with wheat plants on molecular levels. Host-pathogen protein interactions (HPIs) have the potential to reveal the pathogens' mechanism for overcoming the host organism. The current study delves into the interactions between the host plant wheat and MoT through protein-protein interactions, molecular docking, and 100 ns molecular dynamic simulations. This research uncovers the structural and functional basis of these proteins, leading to improved plant health and production.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

A pilot-scale comparison between single and double-digest RAD markers generated using GBS strategy in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.).

To reduce the genome sequence representation, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) protocols is being widely used either with single-digest or double-digest methods. In this study, we genotyped the sesame population (48 sample size) in a pilot scale to compare single and double-digest RAD-seq (sd and ddRAD-seq) methods. We analysed the resulting short-read data generated from both protocols and assessed their performance impacting the downstream analysis using various parameters. The distinct k-mer count and gene presence absence variation (PAV) showed a significant difference between the sesame samples studied. Additionally, the variant calling from both datasets (sdRAD-seq and ddRAD-seq) exhibits a significant difference between them. The combined variants from both datasets helped in identifying the most diverse samples and possible sub-groups in the sesame population. The most diverse samples identified from each analysis (k-mer, gene PAV, SNP count, Heterozygosity, NJ and PCA) can possibly be representative samples holding major diversity of the small sesame population used in this study. The best possible strategies with suggested inputs for modifications to utilize the RAD-seq strategy efficiently on a large dataset containing thousands of samples to be subjected to molecular analysis like diversity, population structure and core development studies were discussed.

Genetic diversity, population structure, and genome-wide association study for the flowering trait in a diverse panel of 428 moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) accessions using genotyping by sequencing.

BACKGROUND: Moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) is an underutilized, protein-rich legume that is grown in arid and semi-arid areas of south Asia and is highly resistant to abiotic stresses such as heat and drought. Despite its economic importance, the crop remains unexplored at the genomic level for genetic diversity and trait mapping studies. To date, there is no report of SNP marker discovery and association mapping of any trait in this crop. Therefore, this study aimed to dissect the genetic diversity, population structure and marker-trait association for the flowering trait in a diversity panel of 428 moth bean accessions using genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach. RESULTS: A total of 9078 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were discovered by genotyping of 428 moth bean accessions. Model-based structure analysis and PCA grouped the moth bean accessions into two subpopulations. Cluster analysis revealed accessions belonging to the Northwestern region of India had higher variability than accessions from the other regions suggesting that this region represents its center of diversity. AMOVA revealed more variations within individuals (74%) and among the individuals (24%) than among the populations (2%). Marker-trait association analysis using seven multi-locus models including mrMLM, FASTmrEMMA FASTmrEMMA, ISIS EM-BLASSO, MLMM, BLINK and FarmCPU revealed 29 potential genomic regions for the trait days to 50% flowering, which were consistently detected in three or more models. Analysis of the allelic effect of the major genomic regions explaining phenotypic variance of more than 10% and those detected in at least 2 environments showed 4 genomic regions with significant phenotypic effect on this trait. Further, we also analyzed genetic relationships among the Vigna species using SNP markers. The genomic localization of moth bean SNPs on genomes of closely related Vigna species demonstrated that maximum numbers of SNPs were getting localized on Vigna mungo. This suggested that the moth bean is most closely related to V. mungo. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the north-western regions of India represent the center of diversity of the moth bean. Further, the study revealed flowering-related genomic regions/candidate genes which can be potentially exploited in breeding programs to develop early-maturity moth bean varieties.

Biochemical Composition of Pulp and Seed of Wild Jack (Artocarpus hirsutus Lam.) Fruit.

Wild jack (Artocarpus hirsutus Lam.) is an endemic perennial tree of Western Ghats of India. Wild jack, a timber purpose tree, is distributed in several Kaan community forests. Although local people consume unripe as well as fully ripe fruits and roasted seeds, wild jack is unrecognized as a fruit tree. It remains almost undocumented with respect to nutritional value in terms of biochemical composition. We carried out biochemical profiling of ripe fruits and seeds of wild jack. Every 100 g fruit pulp was composed of 12 g total soluble sugars, 16.7 g total starch, 441 µg total carotenoids (beta carotene equivalent) and 8.1 mg ascorbic acid, 0.4 mg GAE total phenol and showed total cupric reducing antioxidant activity of 1.9 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE). Every 100 g whole seed flour was composed of 6 g total soluble sugars, 6.6 g starch, 9.9 g total proteins, 3 mg GAE total phenol and 3.1 mg GAE total antioxidant capacity. Biochemical profiles of wild jackfruit and seeds were comparable with those of other Artocarpus fruits like jackfruit and bread fruit. Our findings suggest that wild jack deserves to be promoted as a minor fruit species of high nutritional importance and must be considered as a potential fruit crop species for further research.

Annotation of gene sequence and protein structure of brinjal EDS1.

Enhanced Disease Susceptibility1 (EDS1) is a nucleo-cytoplasmic protein, known to be a key regulator of plant basal defense and effector-triggered immunity. Sequence of a single copy brinjal EDS1 gene (SmEDS1) was mined from draft brinjal genome assembly. The extracted sequence was found to be incomplete and polished with the help of transcriptome sequence data. Full-length SmEDS1 gene is 4.5kb long having three exons that coded for 1.8kb mRNA. SmEDS1 protein is a 602 amino acid long protein consisting of Lipase3 and EP domain regions. Predicted tertiary structure of SmEDS1 using homology modelling had a mass of 68.8kD and was made of 10 strands, 26 alpha helices, five 310 helices and 43 beta turns. Phylogenetic analysis based on protein sequence grouped the species in clades defined by botanical family suggesting that EDS1 protein has evolved through the speciation process. Phylogenetic tree based on EDS1 structures grouped Solanum species of American origin (tomato, wild tomato and potato) together but brinjal EDS1 (Asiatic origin) occupied a unique position. In silico information generated in this study is expected to be the first step toward cloning and expression analysis of SmEDS1 gene.

Correction: Evaluation of 19,460 Wheat Accessions Conserved in the Indian National Genebank to Identify New Sources of Resistance to Rust and Spot Blotch Diseases.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167702.].

Evaluation of 19,460 Wheat Accessions Conserved in the Indian National Genebank to Identify New Sources of Resistance to Rust and Spot Blotch Diseases.

A comprehensive germplasm evaluation study of wheat accessions conserved in the Indian National Genebank was conducted to identify sources of rust and spot blotch resistance. Genebank accessions comprising three species of wheat-Triticum aestivum, T. durum and T. dicoccum were screened sequentially at multiple disease hotspots, during the 2011-14 crop seasons, carrying only resistant accessions to the next step of evaluation. Wheat accessions which were found to be resistant in the field were then assayed for seedling resistance and profiled using molecular markers. In the primary evaluation, 19,460 accessions were screened at Wellington (Tamil Nadu), a hotspot for wheat rusts. We identified 4925 accessions to be resistant and these were further evaluated at Gurdaspur (Punjab), a hotspot for stripe rust and at Cooch Behar (West Bengal), a hotspot for spot blotch. The second round evaluation identified 498 accessions potentially resistant to multiple rusts and 868 accessions potentially resistant to spot blotch. Evaluation of rust resistant accessions for seedling resistance against seven virulent pathotypes of three rusts under artificial epiphytotic conditions identified 137 accessions potentially resistant to multiple rusts. Molecular analysis to identify different combinations of genetic loci imparting resistance to leaf rust, stem rust, stripe rust and spot blotch using linked molecular markers, identified 45 wheat accessions containing known resistance genes against all three rusts as well as a QTL for spot blotch resistance. The resistant germplasm accessions, particularly against stripe rust, identified in this study can be excellent potential candidates to be employed for breeding resistance into the background of high yielding wheat cultivars through conventional or molecular breeding approaches, and are expected to contribute toward food security at national and global levels.

Development of novel simple sequence repeat markers in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) through enriched genomic libraries and their utilization in analysis of genetic diversity and cross-species transferability.

Microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are the preferred markers for genetic analyses of crop plants. The availability of a limited number of such markers in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) necessitates the development and characterization of more SSR markers. These were developed from genomic libraries enriched for three dinucleotide, five trinucleotide, and two tetranucleotide core repeat motifs. Employing the strategy of polymerase chain reaction-based screening, the number of clones to be sequenced was reduced by 81 % and 93.7 % of the sequenced clones contained in microsatellite repeats. Unique primer-pairs were designed for 160 microsatellite loci, and amplicons of expected length were obtained for 151 loci (94.4 %). Evaluation of diversity in 54 bitter gourd accessions at 51 loci indicated that 20 % of the loci were polymorphic with the polymorphic information content values ranging from 0.13 to 0.77. Fifteen Indian varieties were clearly distinguished indicative of the usefulness of the developed markers. Markers at 40 loci (78.4 %) were transferable to six species, viz. Momordica cymbalaria, Momordica subangulata subsp. renigera, Momordica balsamina, Momordica dioca, Momordica cochinchinesis, and Momordica sahyadrica. The microsatellite markers reported will be useful in various genetic and molecular genetic studies in bitter gourd, a cucurbit of immense nutritive, medicinal, and economic importance.

Computational analyses of protein coded by rice (Oryza sativa japonica) cDNA (GI: 32984786) indicate lectin like Ca(2+) binding properties for Eicosapenta Peptide Repeats (EPRs).

Eicosapenta peptide repeats (EPRs) occur exclusively in flowering plant genomes and exhibit very high amino acid residue conservation across occurrence. DNA and amino acid sequence searches yielded no indications about the function due to absence of similarity to known sequences. Tertiary structure of an EPR protein coded by rice (Oryza sativa japonica) cDNA (GI: 32984786) was determined based on ab initio methodology in order to draw clues on functional significance of EPRs. The resultant structure comprised of seven α-helices and thirteen anti-parallel ß-sheets. Surface-mapping of conserved residues onto the structure deduced that (i) regions equivalent to ß α4- the primary function of EPR protein could be Ca(2+) binding, and (iii) the putative EPR Ca(2+) binding domain is structurally similar to calcium-binding domains of plant lectins. Additionally, the phylogenetic analysis showed an evolving taxa-specific distribution of EPR proteins observed in some GNA-like lectins.

Identification of conserved drought stress responsive gene-network across tissues and developmental stages in rice.

Identification of genes that are coexpressed across various tissues and environmental stresses is biologically interesting, since they may play coordinated role in similar biological processes. Genes with correlated expression patterns can be best identified by using coexpression network analysis of transcriptome data. In the present study, we analyzed the temporal-spatial coordination of gene expression in root, leaf and panicle of rice under drought stress and constructed network using WGCNA and Cytoscape. Total of 2199 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in at least three or more tissues, wherein 88 genes have coordinated expression profile among all the six tissues under drought stress. These 88 highly coordinated genes were further subjected to module identification in the coexpression network. Based on chief topological properties we identified 18 hub genes such as ABC transporter, ATP-binding protein, dehydrin, protein phosphatase 2C, LTPL153 - Protease inhibitor, phosphatidylethanolaminebinding protein, lactose permease-related, NADP-dependent malic enzyme, etc. Motif enrichment analysis showed the presence of ABRE cis-elements in the promoters of > 62% of the coordinately expressed genes. Our results suggest that drought stress mediated upregulated gene expression was coordinated through an ABA-dependent signaling pathway across tissues, at least for the subset of genes identified in this study, while down regulation appears to be regulated by tissue specific pathways in rice.

Capillary electrophoresis is essential for microsatellite marker based detection and quantification of adulteration of Basmati rice (Oryza sativa).

Microsatellite markers are employed for genotyping of Basmati varieties and assaying purity of market samples. However, employment of diverse electrophoresis techniques across laboratories has resulted in inconsistent allele sizes, creating doubts about the suitability of the assay. This study evaluated agarose gel electrophoresis, slab gel electrophoresis, and capillary electrophoresis techniques for their efficiency in the detection and quantification of adulteration in Basmati samples. Comparative analysis across 8 microsatellite loci in 12 rice varieties demonstrated that the capillary electrophoresis method showed less error (+/-0.73 bp) in the estimation of allele sizes compared to slab gel (+/-1.59 bp) and agarose gel (+/-8.03 bp) electrophoretic methods. Capillary electrophoresis showed greater reproducibility (<0.5 bp deviation) compared to slab gel (1 bp) and agarose (>3 bp) based methods. Capillary electrophoresis was significantly superior in quantification of the adulterant, with a mean error of +/-3.91% in comparison to slab gel (+/-6.09%). Lack of accuracy and consistency of the slab gel and agarose electrophoretic methods warrants the employment of capillary electrophoresis for Basmati rice purity assays.

High-throughput multiplex microsatellite marker assay for detection and quantification of adulteration in Basmati rice (Oryza sativa).

Basmati rice is a very special type of aromatic rice known world-wide for its extra long grains and pleasant and distinct aroma. Traditional Basmati rice cultivars, confined to Indo-Gangetic regions of the Indian subcontinent, are often reported to be adulterated with crossbred Basmati varieties and long-grain non-Basmati varieties in the export market. At present, there is no commercial scale technology to reliably detect adulteration. We report here a CE-based multiplex microsatellite marker assay for detection as well as quantification of adulteration in Basmati rice samples. The single-tube assay multiplexes eight microsatellite loci to generate variety-specific allele profiles that can detect adulteration from 1% upwards. The protocol also incorporates a quantitative-competitive PCR-based analysis for quantification of adulteration. Accuracy of quantification has been shown to be +/-1.5%. The experiments used to develop and validate the methodology are described.

InSatDb: a microsatellite database of fully sequenced insect genomes.

InSatDb presents an interactive interface to query information regarding microsatellite characteristics per se of five fully sequenced insect genomes (fruit-fly, honeybee, malarial mosquito, red-flour beetle and silkworm). InSatDb allows users to obtain microsatellites annotated with size (in base pairs and repeat units); genomic location (exon, intron, up-stream or transposon); nature (perfect or imperfect); and sequence composition (repeat motif and GC%). One can access microsatellite cluster (compound repeats) information and a list of microsatellites with conserved flanking sequences (microsatellite family or paralogs). InSatDb is complete with the insects information, web links to find details, methodology and a tutorial. A separate 'Analysis' section illustrates the comparative genomic analysis that can be carried out using the output. InSatDb is available at www.cdfd.org.in/insatdb.

Computational prediction of rice (Oryza sativa) miRNA targets.

Bioinformatic approaches have complemented experimental efforts to inventorize plant miRNA targets. We carried out global computational analysis of rice (Oryza sativa) transcriptome to generate a comprehensive list of putative miRNA targets. Our predictions (684 unique transcripts) showed that rice miRNAs mediate regulation of diverse functions including transcription (41%), catalysis (28%), binding (18%), and transporter activity (11%). Among the predicted targets, 61.7% hits were in coding regions and nearly 72% targets had a solitary miRNA hit. The study predicted more than 70 novel targets of 34 miRNAs putatively regulating functions like stress-response, catalysis, and binding. It was observed that more than half (55%) of the targets were conserved between O. sativa indica and O. sativa japonica. Members of 31 miRNA families were found to possess conserved targets between rice and at least one of other grass family members. About 44% of the unique targets were common between two dissimilar miRNA prediction algorithms. Such an extent of cross-species conservation and algorithmic consensus confers confidence in the list of rice miRNA targets predicted in this study.

InSatDb: a genomic tool for insect geneticists.

Microsatellites show tremendous variation between genomes in terms of their occurrence and composition. Availability of whole genome sequences allows us to study microsatellite characteristics of fully sequenced insect genomes to understand the evolution and biological significance of microsatellites. InSatDb is an insect microsatellite database that provides an interactive interface to query information on microsatellites annotated with size (in base pairs and repeat units), genomic location (exon, intron, up-stream or transposon), nature (perfect or imperfect), and sequence composition (repeat motif and GC%). Here we present a snapshot of the distribution and composition of microsatellites in introns and exons of insect genomes. The data present interesting observations regarding the microsatellite life-cycle and genome flux.

Eicosapentapeptide repeats (EPRs): novel repeat proteins specific to flowering plants.

In this report, we describe a novel tandem peptide repeat protein, Eicosapentapeptide repeat (EPR), which occurs notably only in flowering plants. The EPRs are characterized by a 25 amino acid repeat unit, X(2)CX(4)CX(10)CX(2)HGGG, repeated 10 times tandemly. Sequence search revealed that the repeat motif is highly conserved across its occurrence. EPRs are predicted to exist as quasi-globular stable structures owing to highly conserved amino acid positions and potential disulfide bridges. Proteins containing EPRs are predicted to be located in chloroplasts; non-enzymatic and peptide or DNA-binding in molecular function; and they are possibly involved in transcription regulation.