Plant Genomics

Biography

Biography: Mahendar Thudi

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important annual pulse   crops   cultivated by resource poor farmers across the gl obe. Besides being the rich source of human dietary proteins, it improves the  soil  heath through symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Globally it is cultivated on over   13.2 Mha with an annual production of 13.1 million tons and productivity is less than 1 ton per ha much less than estimated potential of 6 t/ha under optimum growing conditions. In order to understand the impact of breeding on genetic diversit y and gain insights into temporal trends in diversity in chickpea, a set of 100 chickpea varieties released in 14 countries between 1948 and 2012 were re-sequenced. For analysis, the re-sequencing data for 29 varieties available from an earlier study was combined and     genome     analysis was conducted for 129    genotypes   . Linkage disequilibri um decay was higher in landraces than in   breeding   lines. Re-sequencing of a large number o f varieties has provided opportunities to inspect the   genetic   and  genomic  changes reflecting the history of     breeding , which we cons ider as breeding signatu res and the selected loci may provide targets for crop improvement. In addition, the analysis provided insights  into population structure, genetic diversity, gene loss, domestication and selection sweeps in this cr op that is important for global food security in developing countries.