The sequential microbial breakdown of pectin is the principal incident during water retting of jute (Corchorus spp.) bast fibres.

The extraction of bast fibres such as jute from plant stems involves the removal of pectin, hemicellulose, and other noncellulosic materials through a complex microbial community. A consortium of pectinolytic bacterial strains has been developed and commercialized to reduce the retting time and enhance fibre quality. However, there are currently no studies on jute that describe the structural changes and sequential microbial colonization and pectin loss that occur during microbe-assisted water retting.

Sustainable agriculture.

Developing sustainable agricultural practices is currently becoming an increasingly relevant challenge. As the worldwide population rises and climate change affects agriculture globally, new and sustainable approaches must be adopted to ensure food security. In this editorial, we invite contributions to a BMC Plant Biology collection on 'Sustainable agriculture,' covering research on the environmental and socioeconomic factors that affect sustainable agricultural practices and their management.

DNA hypomethylation is the plausible driver of heat stress adaptation in Linum usitatissimum.

Heat stress has a significant impact on the climatic adaptation of flax, a cool-season economic crop. Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns are crucial for understanding how flax cultivars respond to heat adversities. It is worth noting that the DNA methylome in flax has yet to be investigated at the nucleotide level.

Transgenic chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) harbouring AtDREB1a are physiologically better adapted to water deficit.

Background: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the second most widely grown pulse and drought (limiting water) is one of the major constraints leading to about 40-50% yield losses annually. Dehydration responsive element binding proteins (DREBs) are important plant transcription factors that regulate the expression of many stress-inducible genes and play a critical role in improving the abiotic stress tolerance.

Genome Comparison Identifies Different Bacillus Species in a Bast Fibre-Retting Bacterial Consortium and Provides Insights into Pectin Degrading Genes.

Retting of bast fibres requires removal of pectin, hemicellulose and other non-cellulosic materials from plant stem tissues by a complex microbial community. A microbial retting consortium with high-efficiency pectinolytic bacterial strains is effective in reducing retting-time and enhancing fibre quality. We report comprehensive genomic analyses of three bacterial strains (PJRB 1, 2 and 3) of the consortium and resolve their taxonomic status, genomic features, variations, and pan-genome dynamics.

Genome-wide regulatory gene-derived SSRs reveal genetic differentiation and population structure in fiber flax genotypes.

We designed a set of 580 simple sequence repeat markers; 506 from transcription factor-coding genes, and 74 from long non-coding RNAs and designated them as regulatory gene-derived simple sequence repeat (ReG-SSR) markers. From this set, we could anchor 559 ReG-SSR markers on 15 flax chromosomes with an average marker distance of 0.56 Mb.

Transcriptome profiling uncovers β-galactosidases of diverse domain classes influencing hypocotyl development in jute (Corchorus capsularis L.).

Enzyme β-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.

Genetic diversity assessment of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp ciceris isolates of Indian chickpea fields as revealed by the SRAP marker system.

An experiment was conducted to study the precise geographical distribution and racial complexity of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp ciceris (Foc) isolates representing 12 states of 4 agro-climatic zones of India at morphological, pathogenic and molecular level. The DNA based sequence related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers was employed to differentiate Foc isolates at genome level.

Expression of a Chimeric Gene Encoding Insecticidal Crystal Protein Cry1Aabc of in Chickpea ( L.) Confers Resistance to Gram Pod Borer ( Hubner.).

Domain swapping and generation of chimeric insecticidal crystal protein is an emerging area of insect pest management. The lepidopteran insect pest, gram pod borer ( H.) wreaks havoc to chickpea crop affecting production.

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.

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

Here, we present the draft genome (377.3 Mbp) of cv. JRO-524 (Navin), which is a leading dark jute variety developed from a cross between African (cv.

Multiple post-domestication origins of kabuli chickpea through allelic variation in a diversification-associated transcription factor.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is among the founder crops domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. One of two major forms of chickpea, the so-called kabuli type, has white flowers and light-colored seed coats, properties not known to exist in the wild progenitor. The origin of the kabuli form has been enigmatic.

Population distribution and genetic relatedness in Indian Fusarium udum isolates based on ribosomal internal transcribe spacer and elongation factor.

With the objective to study the geographical distribution pattern and pathotype classification, isolates from 12 major pigeonpea growing states of India were examined at morphological and molecular levels. Two DNA based internal transcribe spacer (ITS) region derived primers FDP 3 (ITS1/ITS2), FDP 25 (mRNA, LOC100383610) and two elongation factors FDP 4 (F98-BKR5) and FDP 29 (M9968PY) were employed to genetically differentiate the isolates. As a result, each marker system gave an average of 3 alleles/marker.

Genomics-assisted breeding for drought tolerance in chickpea.

Terminal drought is one of the major constraints in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), causing more than 50% production losses. With the objective of accelerating genetic understanding and crop improvement through genomics-assisted breeding, a draft genome sequence has been assembled for the CDC Frontier variety.

Achievements and prospects of genomics-assisted breeding in three legume crops of the semi-arid tropics.

Advances in next-generation sequencing and genotyping technologies have enabled generation of large-scale genomic resources such as molecular markers, transcript reads and BAC-end sequences (BESs) in chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut, three major legume crops of the semi-arid tropics. Comprehensive transcriptome assemblies and genome sequences have either been developed or underway in these crops. Based on these resources, dense genetic maps, QTL maps as well as physical maps for these legume species have also been developed.

Genetic patterns of domestication in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) and wild Cajanus relatives.

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) is an annual or short-lived perennial food legume of acute regional importance, providing significant protein to the human diet in less developed regions of Asia and Africa. Due to its narrow genetic base, pigeonpea improvement is increasingly reliant on introgression of valuable traits from wild forms, a practice that would benefit from knowledge of its domestication history and relationships to wild species. Here we use 752 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived from 670 low copy orthologous genes to clarify the evolutionary history of pigeonpea (79 accessions) and its wild relatives (31 accessions).

The first draft of the pigeonpea genome sequence.

Pigeonpea () is an important grain legume of the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia and East Africa. More than eighty five percent of the world pigeonpea is produced and consumed in India where it is a key crop for food and nutritional security of the people. Here we present the first draft of the genome sequence of a popular pigeonpea variety 'Asha'.

Development of genic-SSR markers by deep transcriptome sequencing in pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh].

Background: Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh], one of the most important food legumes of semi-arid tropical and subtropical regions, has limited genomic resources, particularly expressed sequence based (genic) markers. We report a comprehensive set of validated genic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers using deep transcriptome sequencing, and its application in genetic diversity analysis and mapping.

Cross-genera amplification of informative microsatellite markers from common bean and lentil for the assessment of genetic diversity in pigeonpea.

A total of 24 pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millspaugh) cultivars representing different maturity groups were evaluated for genetic diversity analysis using 10 pigeonpea specific and 66 cross-genera microsatellite markers. Of the cross-genera microsatellite markers, only 12 showed amplification.

Integration of novel SSR and gene-based SNP marker loci in the chickpea genetic map and establishment of new anchor points with Medicago truncatula genome.

This study presents the development and mapping of simple sequence repeat (SSR) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in chickpea. The mapping population is based on an inter-specific cross between domesticated and non-domesticated genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum ICC 4958 x C. reticulatum PI 489777).