BackgroundFinger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) is an important staple food crop widely grown in Africa and South Asia. Among the millets, finger millet has high amount of calcium, methionine, tryptophan, fiber, and sulphur containing amino acids. In addition, it has C4 photosynthetic carbon assimilation mechanism, which helps to utilize water and nitrogen efficiently under hot and arid conditions without severely affecting yield. Therefore, development and utilization of genomic resources for genetic improvement of this crop is immensely useful.ResultsExperimental results from whole genome sequencing and assembling process of ML-365 finger millet cultivar yielded 1196 Mb covering approximately 82% of total estimated genome size. Genome analysis showed the presence of 85,243 genes and one half of the genome is repetitive in nature. The finger millet genome was found to have higher colinearity with foxtail millet and rice as compared to other Poaceae species. Mining of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) yielded abundance of SSRs within the finger millet genome. Functional annotation and mining of transcription factors revealed finger millet genome harbors large number of drought tolerance related genes. Transcriptome analysis of low moisture stress and non-stress samples revealed the identification of several drought-induced candidate genes, which could be used in drought tolerance breeding.ConclusionsThis genome sequencing effort will strengthen plant breeders for allele discovery, genetic mapping, and identification of candidate genes for agronomically important traits. Availability of genomic resources of finger millet will enhance the novel breeding possibilities to address potential challenges of finger millet improvement.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-017-3850-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundRice is a major staple food crop in the world. Over 80 % of rice cultivation area is under indica rice. Currently, genomic resources are lacking for indica as compared to japonica rice. In this study, we generated deep-sequencing data (Illumina and Pacific Biosciences sequencing) for one of the indica rice cultivars, HR-12 from India.ResultsWe assembled over 86 % (389 Mb) of rice genome and annotated 56,284 protein-coding genes from HR-12 genome using Illumina and PacBio sequencing. Comprehensive comparative analyses between indica and japonica subspecies genomes revealed a large number of indica specific variants including SSRs, SNPs and InDels. To mine disease resistance genes, we sequenced few indica rice cultivars that are reported to be highly resistant (Tetep and Tadukan) and susceptible (HR-12 and Co-39) against blast fungal isolates in many countries including India. Whole genome sequencing of rice genotypes revealed high rate of mutations in defense related genes (NB-ARC, LRR and PK domains) in resistant cultivars as compared to susceptible. This study has identified R-genes Pi-ta and Pi54 from durable indica resistant cultivars; Tetep and Tadukan, which can be used in marker assisted selection in rice breeding program.ConclusionsThis is the first report of whole genome sequencing approach to characterize Indian rice germplasm. The genomic resources from our work will have a greater impact in understanding global rice diversity, genetics and molecular breeding.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2523-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) is one of the most versatile tropical evergreen tree species known in India since the Vedic period (1500 BC–600 BC). Neem tree is a rich source of limonoids, having a wide spectrum of activity against insect pests and microbial pathogens. Complex tetranortriterpenoids such as azadirachtin, salanin and nimbin are the major active principles isolated from neem seed. Absolutely nothing is known about the biochemical pathways of these metabolites in neem tree. To identify genes and pathways in neem, we sequenced neem genomes and transcriptomes using next generation sequencing technologies. Assembly of Illumina and 454 sequencing reads resulted in 267 Mb, which accounts for 70% of estimated size of neem genome. We predicted 44,495 genes in the neem genome, of which 32,278 genes were expressed in neem tissues. Neem genome consists about 32.5% (87 Mb) of repetitive DNA elements. Neem tree is phylogenetically related to citrus, Citrus sinensis. Comparative analysis anchored 62% (161 Mb) of assembled neem genomic contigs onto citrus chromomes. Ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-selected reaction monitoring (UHPLC-MS/SRM) method was used to quantify azadirachtin, nimbin, and salanin from neem tissues. Weighted Correlation Network Analysis (WCGNA) of expressed genes and metabolites resulted in identification of possible candidate genes involved in azadirachtin biosynthesis pathway. This study provides genomic, transcriptomic and quantity of top three neem metabolites resource, which will accelerate basic research in neem to understand biochemical pathways.

The Indian subcontinent is the center of origin and diversity for rice (Oryza sativa L.). The O. sativa ssp. indica is a major food crop grown in India, which occupies the first and second position in area and production, respectively. Blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae is a major constraint to rice production. Here, we report the analysis of genome architecture and sequence variation of two field isolates, B157 and MG01, of the blast fungus from southern India. The 40 Mb genome of B157 and 43 Mb genome of MG01 contained 11,344 and 11,733 predicted genes, respectively. Genomic comparisons unveiled a large set of SNPs and several isolate specific genes in the Indian blast isolates. Avr genes were analyzed in several sequenced Magnaporthe strains; this analysis revealed the presence of Avr-Pizt and Avr-Ace1 genes in all the sequenced isolates. Availability of whole genomes of field isolates from India will contribute to global efforts to understand genetic diversity of M. oryzae population and to track the emergence of virulent pathotypes.