Decoding the genome sequences of jute retting microbes is the key
Although India is the largest producer of raw jute and jute goods, the quality of the fibres in the international market was deemed not upto the mark. The latest breakthrough by the Indian COuncil of Agricultural Research, ICAR and Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, CRIJAF, Barrackpore will help improve fibre quality by adopting jute retting with free flowing water, in situ retting tank based farming with a microbial consortium ‘CRIJAF SONA’.
The scientists of ICAR – CRIJAF have decoded the genome sequences of jute retting microbes by high throughput genome sequencing. The in-depth genomic analysis significantly revealed three different species of Bacillus constitute the consortium strains. The genome sizes of these strains are ~3.8 Mb with 3729 to 4002 protein-coding genes.
The sequence data has been submitted to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database of NIH, USA. Genome sequencing also confirms that retting bacteria degrades pectin, hemicellulose and other non-cellulosic materials, non-harmful for fibre. The bacterial strains are non-toxic and thus the retting water with microbial strains can safely be used for irrigation.
