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Horticulture, R&D

Jamun is the largest genome to be sequenced from the world’s largest tree genus, Syzygium

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal (IISER Bhopal) Researchers have completed the first-ever genome sequencing of the Jamun tree (Syzygium cumini), an evergreen tree popular in India for its medicinal properties, fruits, and ornamental value.

To understand the genomic and evolutionary basis of the tree’s medicinal values, the research team sequenced the S.cumini genome from the world’s largest tree genus Syzygium using Oxford Nanopore and 10x Genomics sequencing technologies. Jamun is the largest genome to be sequenced from the world’s largest tree genus, Syzygium.

The team, led by Dr Vineet K. Sharma, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, includes Abhishek Chakraborty, Shruti Mahajan, and Manohar Singh Bisht from IISER Bhopal. Their findings have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Plant Science.

Explaining the aim of this research, Dr Vineet K Sharma, Department of Biological Sciences, IISER Bhopal, said, “This research aimed to gain new functional and evolutionary insights from the Jamun genome, which could be responsible for the wide range of pharmacological properties of this species conferred by the bioactive compounds that act as nutraceutical agents in modern medicine.” 

Syzygium cumini, often known as Jamun, jambolan, or black plum, is a Myrtaceae plant family tropical tree. Its natural range includes the Indian Subcontinent and South-East Asia. The clove genus, Syzygium, is the world’s biggest tree genus, with 1,193 recognised species, of which Jamun is one. 

Jamun is the largest genome to be

Agri Genomics, Webinar

The 7-day online workshop was attended by over 350 young researchers and faculty members belonging to the various fields of biotechnology

A “National Workshop-cum-Webinar on Genome Editing” has been organised from June 27 to July 3, 2022 online with an objective of communicating the advances in science and technology to young students and researchers. This workshop was organised under the Chairmanship of Prof KC Bansal, Secretary of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), New Delhi, who is a former Director of the premier institution of ICAR, the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR).

Co-Chaired by a world-renowned scientist Prof Yiping Qi, Associate Professor, University of Maryland, USA, the 7-day online workshop was attended by over 350 young researchers and faculty members belonging to the various fields of biotechnology.

Speakers included Dr KA Molla, Scientist, NRRI, Cuttack; Dr Siddharth Tiwari, Scientist, NABI, Mohali; Dr P Chander Shekhar, Principal Scientist, CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad; Dr Debojyoti Chakraborty, Senior Scientist, CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi; Dr Viswanathan Chinnusamy, Principal Scientist, IARI, New Delhi and Dr Naveen Bisht, Staff Scientist V, NIPGR, New Delhi. The scientists who will be speaking during the next three days include Dr Kavita Babu, Principal Investigator, IISc, Bangalore; Dr Deepti Trivedi Vyas, Scientist, NCBS, Bangalore; Dr Amit Ghosh, Assistant Professor, IIT, Kharagpur; Dr Basudev Ghoshal, Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Dr D T Singh, Founder & President, CloudSeq Pte Ltd, Singapore.

Prof KC Bansal highlighted the current state of Gene Editing and mentioned that since Government of India has recently issued guidelines easing the norms for bio-safety assessment for developing genome-edited crops, more opportunities have opened into the research and development in this field, and therefore, this workshop is the need of the hour. The Gene Editing technology enables the manipulation of targeted genes in a precise and efficient manner in many organisms and cell lines, and has become indispensable for all life sciences researchers globally, ranging from agriculture to pharma to health sectors.

The 7-day online workshop was attended by

Acquaculture, Agri Genomics, Agro Universities

The whole-genome information of an aquaculture species has potential applications in the genomic selection and breeding of fish for sustainable production and improvement in the desirable traits like disease resistance

In a major achievement, the ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai’s Scientists have sequenced and assembled the whole genome of the Grey Mullet – Mugil cephalus. The whole-genome information of an aquaculture species has potential applications in the genomic selection and breeding of fish for sustainable production and improvement in the desirable traits like disease resistance, growth and development. The Mugil cephalus is commonly distributed across the world and mostly inhabits the inshore sea, estuaries and brackish water areas. The fish is of commercial value to the global fisheries and aquaculture, there is also high demand for mullet roe.

The whole-genome sequence of Mugil cephalus is a major landmark and this very high-quality genome assembly at the contig-level contained 848 contigs with N50 length of 20.15 Mb. At scaffold level, the assembly is 644 Mb in length in 583 scaffolds with N50 of 28.32 Mb. The fish genome contains 27,269 protein-coding genes.

The whole-genome sequence assembly generated for the first time for Mugil cephalus can be used as a reference genome for the family Mugilidae. The high-quality, chromosome-level genome assembly along with the predicted protein sequences would help to gain further insights into desirable traits through gene expression studies. The whole-genome assembly would provide the baseline information needed to implement genetic improvement programmes for this commercially important fish species in future.

The institute’s science team involved in the fish genome assembly were Dr MS Shekhar, Dr Vinaya Kumar Katneni, Dr Ashok Kumar Jangam, Dr Raymond Jani Angel, Dr Krishna Sukumaran and Dr M Kailasam. The Genome Sequencing Project was financially supported by the ICAR-Consortium Research Platform on Genomics and coordinated by Dr Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries Science), ICAR.

The whole-genome information of an aquaculture species