A team of 51 scientists from nine countries made a breakthrough in DNA sequencing of groundnut.
They feel that this promises the development of improved groundnut varieties with enhanced traits such as increased pod and oil yield, drought and heat tolerance and greater disease resistance.
Scientists from nine institutions in China, India, the USA and Australia, including the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), have decoded the complete DNA sequencing of the ancestor of the groundnut, the diploid A-genome (Arachis duranensis). Other significant varieties this could help develop include aflatoxin-free, nutrition-rich and allergen-free. The breakthrough also provides insights into geocarpy – a unique reproductive process of the groundnut, oil biosynthesis and allergens.
The findings have been published in the prestigious journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ‘(PNAS), USA ( http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/05/25/1600899113.full ) on May 31.
“This study has not just provided the full genome sequence to help plant breeders across the globe to develop more productive and more resilient groundnut varieties in a faster manner, but also provides us an insight into geocarpy, a reproductive process where the flowers grown on the stem go inside the soil and pod formations occur,” said Rajeev Varshney, Co-Coordinator of Genome Sequencing Project and Research Programme Director, Genetic Gains Programme at ICRISAT.
Congratulating the team on this breakthrough, David Bergvinson, Director General, ICRISAT said, “This will provide an efficient roadmap for sustainable and resilient groundnut production for improved livelihoods of smallholder farmers, particularly in the marginal environments of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa”.
“This study has
also provides an insight into geocarpy,” says Rajeev Varshney
