Executive Summary : | Finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L). Gaertn} is a tetraploid grass species and its grain is rich in calcium. Among millets, finger millet ranks third next to sorghum and pearl millet both in area and production in India. It is globally cultivated on 4 to 4.5 million ha and India contributes about 2.0 million tonnes of production from 1.2 million ha area. Grains of finger millet possess highest grain calcium (300-350 mg/100g), which is 30-35 times higher than any cereal grain. The major constraint affecting productivity of this crop is blast disease (leaf, neck and finger blast) leading up to 80% loss under severe conditions. Identification of stable blast resistant lines and genomic regions associated with blast resistance will aid in rapid development of improved lines through a combination of conventional and molecular approaches. Genomic resources are made available in finger millet with the recent genome sequencing and availability of draft genome of finger millet (Hatakeyama et al. 2018), which provides an excellent opportunity to employ DNA sequence variations in the genetic improvement of finger millet. Preliminary evaluation of diversity panel comprising of 250 genotypes revealed a larger variability for blast resistance, biochemical parameters and agro-morphological traits. In this proposal, the diversity panel in addition to trait-specific lines totaling to 250 genotypes/germplasm will be raised and screened for blast disease under hotspot/artificial screening conditions at Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram (hotspot) and VC Farm, Mandya (hotspot). The phenotypic data on leaf blast, neck blast and finger blast (scale of 1 to 9) will be recorded. The same set (250 genotypes) will be raised at IIMR-Hyderabad and VC Farm, Mandya for the evaluation of grain yield and its component traits. Genome-wide SNPs will be identified for 250 genotypes of the diversity panel through genome re-sequencing of these genotypes using Illumina NGS platform with 5x coverage. Genome-wide association mapping for grain yield and blast disease resistance traits will be performed by combining the phenotypic data of the target traits and genome-wide SNPs for the identification of SNP-trait associations for grain yield and blast disease resistance traits. The execution of this project will result in the identification of stable donors for blast disease for further use in the breeding program. The information on SNP-trait associations generated in this project will aid in the accelerated development of high yielding blast resistant finger millet cultivars through molecular breeding. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Rajendrakumar P, Indian Institute Of Millets Research, Telangana,Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana-500030, Dr. Deepak C A, University Of Agricultural Sciences, Karnataka, Bengaluru, Karnataka-560065, Dr. Thanuku SSK Patro, Agricultural Research Station, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh-532523 |