An Immobilized Form of a Blend of Essential Oils Improves the Density of Beneficial Bacteria, in Addition to Suppressing Pathogens in the Gut and Also Improves the Performance of Chicken Breeding.

Antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP) are used in chicken production to suppress pathogens in the gut and improve performance, but such products tend to suppress beneficial bacteria while favoring the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance. A green alternative to AGP with the ability to suppress pathogens, but with an additional ability to spare beneficial gut bacteria and improve breeding performance is urgently required. We investigated the effect of supplementation of a blend of select essential oils (cinnamon oil, carvacrol, and thyme oil, henceforth referred to as EO; at two doses: 200 g/t and 400 g/t feed) exhibiting an ability to spare Lactobacillus while exhibiting strong E. coli inhibition ability under in vitro tests and immobilized in a sunflower oil and calcium alginate matrix, to broiler chickens and compared the effects with those of a probiotic yeast (Y), an AGP virginiamycin (V), and a negative control (C). qPCR analysis of metagenomic DNA from the gut content of experimental chickens indicated a significantly (p < 0.05) lower density of E. coli in the EO groups as compared to other groups. Amplicon sequence data of the gut microbiome indicated that all the additives had specific significant effects (DESeq2) on the gut microbiome, such as enrichment of uncultured Clostridia in the V and Y groups and uncultured Ruminococcaceae in the EO groups, as compared to the control. LEfSe analysis of the sequence data indicated a high abundance of beneficial bacteria Ruminococcaceae in the EO groups, Faecalibacterium in the Y group, and Blautia in the V group. Supplementation of the immobilized EO at the dose rate of 400 g/ton feed improved body weight gain (by 64 g/bird), feed efficiency (by 5 points), and cellular immunity (skin thickness response to phytoheamagglutinin lectin from Phaseolus vulgaris by 58%) significantly (p < 0.05), whereas neither yeast nor virginiamycin showed a significant effect on performance parameters. Expression of genes associated with gut barrier and immunity function such as CLAUDIN1, IL6, IFNG, TLR2A, and NOD1 were significantly higher in the EO groups. This study showed that the encapsulated EO mixture can improve the density of beneficial microbes in the gut significantly, with concomitant suppression of potential pathogens such as E.coli and improved performance and immunity, and hence, has a high potential to be used as an effective alternative to AGP in poultry.

Amaranth Genomic Resource Database: an integrated database resource of Amaranth genes and genomics.

Amaranth (Amaranthus L.) is native to Mexico and North America, where it was cultivated thousands of years ago, but now amaranth is grown worldwide. Amaranth is one of the most promising food crops with high nutritional value and belongs to the family Amaranthaceae. The high-quality genome assembly of cultivated amaranth species (A. hypochondriacus, A. cruentus) and wild/weedy species (A. tuberculatus, A. hybridus, and A. palmeri) has already been reported; therefore, we developed an Amaranth Genomic Resource Database (AGRDB) to provide access to all the genomic information such as genes, SSRs, SNPs, TFs, miRNAs, and transporters in one place. The AGRDB database contains functionally annotated gene information with their sequence details, genic as well as genomic SSRs with their three sets of primers, transcription factors classified into different families with their sequence information and annotation details, putative miRNAs with their family, sequences, and targeted gene details, transporter genes with their superfamily, trans-membrane domain details, and details of genic as well as nongenic SNPs with 3' and 5' flanking sequence information of five amaranth species. A database search can be performed using the gene ID, sequence ID, sequence motif, motif repeat, family name, annotation keyword, scaffold or chromosome numbers, etc. This resource also includes some useful tools, including JBrowse for the visualization of genes, SSRs, SNPs, and TFs on the respective amaranth genomes and BLAST search to perform a BLAST search of the user's query sequence against the amaranth genome as well as protein sequences. The AGRDB database will serve as a potential platform for genetic improvement and characterization of this futuristic crop. The AGRDB database will be accessible via the link: http://www.nbpgr.ernet.in:8080/AmaranthGRD/.

Delineation of novel genomic loci and putative candidate genes associated with seed iron and zinc content in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.).

The use of molecular breeding approaches for development of lentil genotypes biofortified with essential micro-nutrients such as iron and zinc, could serve as a promising solution to address the problem of global malnutrition. Thus, genome-wide association study (GWAS) strategy was adopted in this study to identify the genomic regions associated with seed iron and zinc content in lentil. A panel of 95 diverse lentil genotypes, grown across three different geographical locations and evaluated for seed iron and zinc content, exhibited a wide range of variation. Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) analysis of the panel identified 33,745 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were distributed across all the 7 lentil chromosomes. Association mapping revealed 23 SNPs associated with seed iron content that were distributed across all the chromosomes except chromosome 3. Similarly, 14 SNPs associated with seed zinc content were also identified that were distributed across chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. Further, 80 genes were identified in the proximity of iron associated markers and 36 genes were identified in the proximity of zinc associated markers. Functional annotation of these genes revealed their putative involvement in iron and zinc metabolism. For seed iron content, two highly significant SNPs were found to be located within two putative candidate genes namely iron-sulfur cluster assembly (ISCA) and flavin binding monooxygenase (FMO) respectively. For zinc content, a highly significant SNP was detected in a gene encoding UPF0678 fatty acid-binding protein. Expression analysis of these genes and their putative interacting partners suggests their involvement in iron and zinc metabolism in lentil. Overall, in this study we have identified markers, putative candidate genes and predicted putative interacting protein partners significantly associated with iron and zinc metabolism that could be utilized in future breeding studies of lentil for nutrient biofortification.

De Novo Transcriptome Profiling for the Generation and Validation of Microsatellite Markers, Transcription Factors, and Database Development for Andrographis paniculata.

Andrographis paniculata belongs to the family Acanthaceae and is known for its medicinal properties owing to the presence of unique constituents belonging to the lactones, diterpenoids, diterpene glycosides, flavonoids, and flavonoid glycosides groups of chemicals. Andrographolide, a major therapeutic constituent of A. paniculata, is extracted primarily from the leaves of this plant and exhibits antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities. Using 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing, we have generated a whole transcriptome profile of entire leaves of A. paniculata. A total of 22,402 high-quality transcripts were generated, with an average transcript length and N50 of 884 bp and 1007 bp, respectively. Functional annotation revealed that 19,264 (86%) of the total transcripts showed significant similarity with the NCBI-Nr database and were successfully annotated. Out of the 19,264 BLAST hits, 17,623 transcripts were assigned GO terms and distributed into three major functional categories: molecular function (44.62%), biological processes (29.19%), and cellular component (26.18%) based on BLAST2GO. Transcription factor analysis showed 6669 transcripts, belonging to 57 different transcription factor families. Fifteen TF genes that belong to the NAC, MYB, and bHLH TF categories were validated by RT PCR amplification. In silico analysis of gene families involved in the synthesis of biochemical compounds having medicinal values, such as cytochrome p450, protein kinases, heat shock proteins, and transporters, was completed and a total of 102 different transcripts encoding enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoids were predicted. Out of these, 33 transcripts belonged to terpenoid backbone biosynthesis. This study also identified 4254 EST-SSRs from 3661 transcripts, representing 16.34% of the total transcripts. Fifty-three novel EST-SSR markers generated from our EST dataset were used to assess the genetic diversity among eighteen A. paniculata accessions. The genetic diversity analysis revealed two distinct sub-clusters and all accessions based on the genetic similarity index were distinct from each other. A database based on EST transcripts, EST-SSR markers, and transcription factors has been developed using data generated from the present study combined with available transcriptomic resources from a public database using Meta transcriptome analysis to make genomic resources available in one place to the researchers working on this medicinal plant.

High resolution mapping of QTLs for fruit color and firmness in Amrapali/Sensation mango hybrids.

Introduction: Mango (Mangifera indica L.), acclaimed as the 'king of fruits' in the tropical world, has historical, religious, and economic values. It is grown commercially in more than 100 countries, and fresh mango world trade accounts for ~3,200 million US dollars for the year 2020. Mango is widely cultivated in sub-tropical and tropical regions of the world, with India, China, and Thailand being the top three producers. Mango fruit is adored for its taste, color, flavor, and aroma. Fruit color and firmness are important fruit quality traits for consumer acceptance, but their genetics is poorly understood. Methods: For mapping of fruit color and firmness, mango varieties Amrapali and Sensation, having contrasting fruit quality traits, were crossed for the development of a mapping population. Ninety-two bi-parental progenies obtained from this cross were used for the construction of a high-density linkage map and identification of QTLs. Genotyping was carried out using an 80K SNP chip array. Results and discussion: Initially, we constructed two high-density linkage maps based on the segregation of female and male parents. A female map with 3,213 SNPs and male map with 1,781 SNPs were distributed on 20 linkages groups covering map lengths of 2,844.39 and 2,684.22cM, respectively. Finally, the integrated map was constructed comprised of 4,361 SNP markers distributed on 20 linkage groups, which consisted of the chromosome haploid number in Mangifera indica (n =20). The integrated genetic map covered the entire genome of Mangifera indica cv. Dashehari, with a total genetic distance of 2,982.75 cM and an average distance between markers of 0.68 cM. The length of LGs varied from 85.78 to 218.28 cM, with a mean size of 149.14 cM. Phenotyping for fruit color and firmness traits was done for two consecutive seasons. We identified important consistent QTLs for 12 out of 20 traits, with integrated genetic linkages having significant LOD scores in at least one season. Important consistent QTLs for fruit peel color are located at Chr 3 and 18, and firmness on Chr 11 and 20. The QTLs mapped in this study would be useful in the marker-assisted breeding of mango for improved efficiency.

TinoTranscriptDB: A Database of Transcripts and Microsatellite Markers of Tinospora cordifolia, an Important Medicinal Plant.

Tinospora cordifolia, commonly known as "Giloe" in India, is a shrub belonging to the family Menispermaceae. It is an important medicinal plant known for its antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and antidiabetic properties and is used in the treatment of jaundice, gout, and rheumatism. Despite its economic importance, the limited information related to its genomic resources prohibits its judicious exploitation through molecular breeding or biotechnological approaches. In this study, we generated a meta-transcriptome assembly of 43,090 non-redundant transcripts by merging the RNASeq data obtained from Roche 454 GS-FLX, and Illumina platforms, and report the first transcriptome-based database for simple sequence repeats and transcription factors ("TinoTranscriptDB" (Tinospora cordifolia Transcriptome Database)). We annotated 26,716 (62%) of the total transcripts successfully from National Center for Biotechnology Information non-redundant protein (NCBI-NR), gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Swiss-Prot, and Pfam databases. This database contains information of 2620 perfect simple sequence repeats (P-SSRs) with a relative abundance of 340.12 (loci/Mb), and relative density of 6309.29 (bp/Mb). Excluding mono-nucleotides, the most abundant SSR motifs were tri-nucleotides (54.31%), followed by di-nucleotides (37.51%), tetra-nucleotides (4.54%), penta-nucleotides (3.16%) and hexa-nucleotides (0.45%). Additionally, we also identified 4,311 transcription factors (TFs) and categorized them into 55 sub-families. This database is expected to fill the gap in genomic resource availability in T. cordifolia and thus accelerate molecular breeding and related functional and other applied studies aimed towards genetic improvements of T. cordifolia and related species.

Utility of Triti-Map for bulk-segregated mapping of causal genes and regulatory elements in Triticeae.

Triticeae species, including wheat, barley, and rye, are critical for global food security. Mapping agronomically important genes is crucial for elucidating molecular mechanisms and improving crops. However, Triticeae includes many wild relatives with desirable agronomic traits, and frequent introgressions occurred during Triticeae evolution and domestication. Thus, Triticeae genomes are generally large and complex, making the localization of genes or functional elements that control agronomic traits challenging. Here, we developed Triti-Map, which contains a suite of user-friendly computational packages specifically designed and optimized to overcome the obstacles of gene mapping in Triticeae, as well as a web interface integrating multi-omics data from Triticeae for the efficient mining of genes or functional elements that control particular traits. The Triti-Map pipeline accepts both DNA and RNA bulk-segregated sequencing data as well as traditional QTL data as inputs for locating genes and elucidating their functions. We illustrate the usage of Triti-Map with a combination of bulk-segregated ChIP-seq data to detect a wheat disease-resistance gene with its promoter sequence that is absent from the reference genome and clarify its evolutionary process. We hope that Triti-Map will facilitate gene isolation and accelerate Triticeae breeding.

Assembly and Annotation of the Nuclear and Organellar Genomes of a Dwarf Coconut (Chowghat Green Dwarf) Possessing Enhanced Disease Resistance.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.), an important source of vegetable oil, nutraceuticals, functional foods, and housing materials, provides raw materials for a repertoire of industries engaged in the manufacture of cosmetics, soaps, detergents, paints, varnishes, and emulsifiers, among other products. The palm plays a vital role in maintaining and promoting the sustainability of farming systems of the fragile ecosystems of islands and coastal regions of the tropics. In this study, we present the genome of a dwarf coconut variety "Chowghat Green Dwarf" (CGD) from India, possessing enhanced resistance to root (wilt) disease. Utilizing short reads from the Illumina HiSeq 4000 platform and long reads from the Pacific Biosciences RSII platform, we have assembled the draft genome assembly of 1.93 Gb. The genome is distributed over 26,855 scaffolds, with ∼81.56% of the assembled genome present in scaffolds of lengths longer than 50 kb. About 77.29% of the genome was composed of transposable elements and repeats. Gene prediction yielded 51,953 genes, which upon stringent filtering, based on Annotation Edit Distance, resulted in 13,707 genes, which coded for 11,181 proteins. Among these, we gathered transcript level evidence for a total of 6828 predicted genes based on the RNA-Seq data from different coconut tissues, since they presented assembled transcripts within the genome annotation coordinates. A total of 112 nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat loci, belonging to six classes, were detected. We have also undertaken the assembly and annotation of the CGD chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes. The availability of the dwarf coconut genome shall prove invaluable for deducing the origin of dwarf coconut cultivars, dissection of genes controlling plant habit and fruit color, and accelerated breeding for improved agronomic traits.

Comparative RNA sequencing based transcriptome profiling of regular bearing and alternate bearing mango (Mangifera indica L.) varieties reveals novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying alternate bearing.

OBJECTIVE: This study is to understand a comprehensive perspective on the molecular mechanisms underlying alternate bearing in mango (Mangifera indica L.) via transcriptome wide gene expression profiling of both regular and irregular mango varieties. RESULTS: Transcriptome data of regular (Neelam) and irregular (Dashehari) mango varieties revealed a total of 42,397 genes. Out of that 12,557 significantly differentially expressed genes were identified, of which 6453 were found to be up-regulated and 6104 were found to be down-regulated genes. Further, many of the common unigenes which were involved in hormonal regulation, metabolic processes, oxidative stress, ion homeostasis, alternate bearing etc. showed significant differences between these two different bearing habit varieties. Pathway analysis showed the highest numbers of differentially expressed genes were related with the metabolic processes (523). A total of 26 alternate bearing genes were identified and principally three genes viz; SPL-like gene (GBVX01015803.1), Rumani GA-20-oxidase-like gene (GBVX01019650.1) and LOC103420644 (GBVX01016070.1) were significantly differentially expressed (at log2FC and pval less than 0.05) while, only single gene (gbGBVW01004309.1) related with flowering was found to be differentially expressed. A total of 15 differentially expressed genes from three important pathways viz; alternate bearing, carbohydrate metabolism and hormone synthesis were validated using Real time PCR and results were at par with in silico analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Deciphering the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and potential candidate genes associated with alternate bearing, hormone and carbohydrate metabolism pathways will help for illustrating the molecular mechanisms underlying the bearing tendencies in mango.

Comparative transcriptome analyses provide novel insights into the differential response of Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) and its wild relative (Cajanus platycarpus (Benth.) Maesen) to herbivory by Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner).

KEY MESSAGE: Deeper insights into the resistance response of Cajanus platycarpus were obtained based on comparative transcriptomics under Helicoverpa armigera infestation. Devastation by pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera is one of the major factors for stagnated productivity in Pigeonpea. Despite possessing a multitude of desirable traits including pod borer resistance, wild relatives of Cajanus spp. have remained under-utilized due to linkage drag and cross-incompatibility. Discovery and deployment of genes from them can provide means to tackle key pests like H. armigera. Transcriptomic differences between Cajanus platycarpus and Cajanus cajan during different time points (0, 18, 38, 96 h) of pod borer infestation were elucidated in this study. For the first ever time, we demonstrated captivating variations in their response; C. platycarpus apparently being reasonably agile with effectual transcriptomic reprogramming to deter the insect. Deeper insights into the differential response were obtained by identification of significant GO-terms related to herbivory followed by combined KEGG and ontology analyses. C. platycarpus portrayed a multilevel response with cardinal involvement of SAR, redox homeostasis and reconfiguration of primary metabolites leading to a comprehensive defense response. The credibility of RNA-seq analyses was ascertained by transient expression of selected putative insect resistance genes from C. platycarpus viz., chitinase (CHI4), Alpha-amylase/subtilisin inhibitor (IAAS) and Flavonoid 3_5 hydroxylase (C75A1) in Nicotiana benthamiana followed by efficacy analysis against H. armigera. qPCR validated results of the study provided innovative insights and useful leads for development of durable pod borer resistance.

Comparative Genomics Reveals the High Copy Number Variation of a Retro Transposon in Different Magnaporthe Isolates.

Magnaporthe oryzae is one of the fungal pathogens of rice which results in heavy yield losses worldwide. Understanding the genomic structure of M. oryzae is essential for appropriate deployment of the blast resistance in rice crop improvement programs. In this study we sequenced two M. oryzae isolates, RML-29 (avirulent) and RP-2421 (highly virulent) and performed comparative study along with three publically available genomes of 70-15, P131, and Y34. We identified several candidate effectors (>600) and isolate specific sequences from RML-29 and RP-2421, while a core set of 10013 single copy orthologs were found among the isolates. Pan-genome analysis showed extensive presence and absence variations (PAVs). We identified isolate-specific genes across 12 isolates using the pan-genome information. Repeat analysis was separately performed for each of the 15 isolates. This analysis revealed ∼25 times higher copy number of short interspersed nuclear elements (SINE) in virulent than avirulent isolate. We conclude that the extensive PAVs and occurrence of SINE throughout the genome could be one of the major mechanisms by which pathogenic variability is emerging in M. oryzae isolates. The knowledge gained in this comparative genome study can provide understandings about the fungal genome variations in different hosts and environmental conditions, and it will provide resources to effectively manage this important disease of rice.

Solution-Processed Organic Field-Effect Transistors with High Performance and Stability on Paper Substrates.

High-performance operationally stable organic field-effect transistors were successfully fabricated on a PowerCoat HD 230 paper substrate with a TIPS-pentacene:polystyrene blend as the active layer and poly(4-vinylphenol)/HfO2 as the hybrid gate dielectric. The fabricated devices exhibited excellent p-channel characteristics with a maximum and av field effect mobility of 0.44 and 0.22(±0.11) cm2 V-1 s-1, respectively, av threshold voltage of 0.021(±0.63) V, and current on-off ratio of ∼105 while operating at -10 V. These devices exhibited remarkable stability under effects of gate bias stress and large number of repeated transfer scans with negligible performance spread. In addition, these devices displayed very stable electrical characteristics after long exposure periods to humidity and an excellent shelf life of more than 6 months in ambient environment. Thermal stress at high temperatures however deteriorates the device characteristics because of the generation and propagation of cracks in the active semiconductor crystals. Furthermore, novel paper-based phototransistors have been demonstrated with these devices.

Homeologue Specific Gene Expression Analysis of Two Vital Carbon Metabolizing Enzymes-Citrate Synthase and NADP-Isocitrate Dehydrogenase-from Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Under Nitrogen Stress : Homeologue Specific gene expression of CS and NADP-ICDH.

Citrate synthase (CS) and NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP-ICDH) have been considered as candidate enzymes to provide carbon skeletons for nitrogen assimilation, i.e., production of 2-oxoglutarate required by the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase cycle. The CS and NADP-ICDH cDNAs were encoded for polypeptides of 402 and 480 amino acids with an estimated molecular weight of 53.01 and 45 kDa and an isoelectric point of 9.08 and 5.98, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of these proteins in wheat across kingdoms confirmed the close relationship with Aegilops tauschii and Hordeum vulgare. Further, their amino acid sequences were demonstrated to have some conserved motifs such as Mg2+ or Mn2 binding site, catalytic sites, NADP binding sites, and active sites. In-silico-identified genomic sequences for the three homeologues A, B, and Dof CS and NADP-ICDH were found to be located on long arm of chromosomes 5 and 3, and sequence analysis also revealed that the three homeologues consisted of 13 and 15 exons, respectively. The total expression analysis indicated that both genes are ubiquitously expressed in shoot and root tissues under chronic as well as transient nitrogen stress. However, they are differentially and contrastingly expressed but almost in a coordinated manner in both the tissues. Under chronic as well as transient stress, both the genes in shoot tissue showed downregulation, lowest at 6 h of transient stress. However, in the root tissue, trend was found opposite except with exceptions. Moreover, all the three homeologues of both the genes were transcribed differentially, and the ratio of the individual homeologues transcripts to total homeologues transcripts also varied with the tissue, i.e., shoots or roots, as well as with nitrogen stress treatments. Thus, cDNA as well as genomic sequence information, apparent expression at different time point of nitrogen stress, and coordination between these enzymes would be ultimately linked to nitrate assimilation and nitrogen use efficiency in wheat.

An improved draft of the pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) genome.

The first draft of the pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. cv. Asha) genome with 511 Mbp of assembled sequence information has low genome coverage of about sixty percent. Here we present an improved version of this genome with 648.2 Mbp of assembled sequence of this popular pigeonpea variety, which is liked by the millers and has resistance to fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic diseases. With the addition of 137 Mb of assembled sequence information the present version has the highest available genome coverage of pigeonpea till date. We predicted 56,888 protein-coding genes of which 54,286 (96.7%) were functionally annotated. In the improved genome assembly we identified 158,432 SSR loci, designed flanking primers for 85,296 of these and validated them in-silico by e-PCR. The raw data used for the improvement of genome assembly are available in the SRA database of NCBI with accession numbers SRR5922904, SRR5922905, SRR5922906, SRR5922907. The genome sequence update has been deposited at DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank under the accession AFSP00000000, and the version described in this paper is the second version (AFSP02000000).

MiSNPDb: a web-based genomic resources of tropical ecology fruit mango (Mangifera indica L.) for phylogeography and varietal differentiation.

Mango is one of the most important fruits of tropical ecological region of the world, well known for its nutritive value, aroma and taste. Its world production is >45MT worth >200 billion US dollars. Genomic resources are required for improvement in productivity and management of mango germplasm. There is no web-based genomic resources available for mango. Hence rapid and cost-effective high throughput putative marker discovery is required to develop such resources. RAD-based marker discovery can cater this urgent need till whole genome sequence of mango becomes available. Using a panel of 84 mango varieties, a total of 28.6 Gb data was generated by ddRAD-Seq approach on Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. A total of 1.25 million SNPs were discovered. Phylogenetic tree using 749 common SNPs across these varieties revealed three major lineages which was compared with geographical locations. A web genomic resources MiSNPDb, available at http://webtom.cabgrid.res.in/mangosnps/ is based on 3-tier architecture, developed using PHP, MySQL and Javascript. This web genomic resources can be of immense use in the development of high density linkage map, QTL discovery, varietal differentiation, traceability, genome finishing and SNP chip development for future GWAS in genomic selection program. We report here world's first web-based genomic resources for genetic improvement and germplasm management of mango.

Directional Solvent Vapor Annealing for Crystal Alignment in Solution-Processed Organic Semiconductors.

A unified approach of directional solvent vapor annealing for crystal alignment in solution-processed organic semiconductors is proposed. Highly crystalline molecular self-assembly of the drop-cast technique is further enhanced by postprocessing scheme of the solvent vapor annealing with additional benefit of alignment of the crystalline domains. In this technique, a mixture of carrier gas and solvent vapors are made to flow in a certain direction and in the close proximity of the surface of the substrates carrying the solution. Flow of the carrier gas imparts directionality to the semiconducting crystalline ribbons, whereas the influx of the solvent vapors improves the crystalline order in the semiconducting film. The flow rate of the carrier gas and the position of the substrate in the interaction chamber are the primary regulating factors, which have the ability to provide a semiconducting layer with a well-aligned and interconnected assembly of long ribbons. These favorable film properties further materialize in the form of electrical performance of the corresponding field-effect transistors. The versatility of this technique makes it a viable alternative for the solution processing of organic semiconductors.

A high-density intraspecific SNP linkage map of pigeonpea (Cajanas cajan L. Millsp.).

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) is a major food legume cultivated in semi-arid tropical regions including the Indian subcontinent, Africa, and Southeast Asia. It is an important source of protein, minerals, and vitamins for nearly 20% of the world population. Due to high carbon sequestration and drought tolerance, pigeonpea is an important crop for the development of climate resilient agriculture and nutritional security. However, pigeonpea productivity has remained low for decades because of limited genetic and genomic resources, and sparse utilization of landraces and wild pigeonpea germplasm. Here, we present a dense intraspecific linkage map of pigeonpea comprising 932 markers that span a total adjusted map length of 1,411.83 cM. The consensus map is based on three different linkage maps that incorporate a large number of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers derived from next generation sequencing data, using Illumina GoldenGate bead arrays, and genotyping with restriction site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing. The genotyping-by-sequencing enhanced the marker density but was met with limited success due to lack of common markers across the genotypes of mapping population. The integrated map has 547 bead-array SNP, 319 RAD-SNP, and 65 simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker loci. We also show here correspondence between our linkage map and published genome pseudomolecules of pigeonpea. The availability of a high-density linkage map will help improve the anchoring of the pigeonpea genome to its chromosomes and the mapping of genes and quantitative trait loci associated with useful agronomic traits.

The draft genome of Corchorus olitorius cv. JRO-524 (Navin).

Here, we present the draft genome (377.3 Mbp) of Corchorus olitorious cv. JRO-524 (Navin), which is a leading dark jute variety developed from a cross between African (cv. Sudan Green) and indigenous (cv. JRO-632) types. We predicted from the draft genome a total of 57,087 protein-coding genes with annotated functions. We identified a large number of 1765 disease resistance-like and defense response genes in the jute genome. The annotated genes showed the highest sequence similarities with that of Theobroma cacao followed by Gossypium raimondii. Seven chromosome-scale genetically anchored pseudomolecules were constructed with a total size of 8.53 Mbp and used for synteny analyses with the cocoa and cotton genomes. Like other plant species, gypsy and copia retrotransposons were the most abundant classes of repeat elements in jute. The raw data of our study are available in SRA database of NCBI with accession number SRX1506532. The genome sequence has been deposited at DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank under the accession LLWS00000000, and the version described in this paper will be the first version (LLWS01000000).

Leaf Transcriptome Sequencing for Identifying Genic-SSR Markers and SNP Heterozygosity in Crossbred Mango Variety 'Amrapali' (Mangifera indica L.).

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is called "king of fruits" due to its sweetness, richness of taste, diversity, large production volume and a variety of end usage. Despite its huge economic importance genomic resources in mango are scarce and genetics of useful horticultural traits are poorly understood. Here we generated deep coverage leaf RNA sequence data for mango parental varieties 'Neelam', 'Dashehari' and their hybrid 'Amrapali' using next generation sequencing technologies. De-novo sequence assembly generated 27,528, 20,771 and 35,182 transcripts for the three genotypes, respectively. The transcripts were further assembled into a non-redundant set of 70,057 unigenes that were used for SSR and SNP identification and annotation. Total 5,465 SSR loci were identified in 4,912 unigenes with 288 type I SSR (n ≥ 20 bp). One hundred type I SSR markers were randomly selected of which 43 yielded PCR amplicons of expected size in the first round of validation and were designated as validated genic-SSR markers. Further, 22,306 SNPs were identified by aligning high quality sequence reads of the three mango varieties to the reference unigene set, revealing significantly enhanced SNP heterozygosity in the hybrid Amrapali. The present study on leaf RNA sequencing of mango varieties and their hybrid provides useful genomic resource for genetic improvement of mango.

De novo transcriptome sequencing facilitates genomic resource generation in Tinospora cordifolia.

Tinospora cordifolia is known for its medicinal properties owing to the presence of useful constituents such as terpenes, glycosides, steroids, alkaloids, and flavonoids belonging to secondary metabolism origin. However, there is little information available pertaining to critical genomic elements (ESTs, molecular markers) necessary for judicious exploitation of its germplasm. We employed 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing of entire transcripts and altogether ∼25 K assembled transcripts or Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were identified. As the interest in T. cordifolia is primarily due to its secondary metabolite constituents, the ESTs pertaining to terpenoids biosynthetic pathway were identified in the present study. Additionally, several ESTs were assigned to different transcription factor families. To validate our transcripts dataset, the novel EST-SSR markers were generated to assess the genetic diversity among germplasm of T. cordifolia. These EST-SSR markers were found to be polymorphic and the dendrogram based on dice similarity index revealed three distinct clustering of accessions. The present study demonstrates effectiveness in using both NEWBLER and MIRA sequence read assembler software for enriching transcript-dataset and thus enables better exploitation of EST resources for mining candidate genes and designing molecular markers.