Introduction and
Perspective
Increase
in agricultural productivity has to out-pace the rate of growth in population.
This has to happen despite all the adverse abiotic and biotic stress factors
under the climate change regime.
Genetic
enhancement has been successful in meeting the demands of the ever increasing
population largely because of discovery and use of novel genes. The dwarfing
genes in wheat and rice, and rust resistance genes in wheat are some of the
burning examples, which stand testimony to the power of genetic technology that
ushered in green revolution and subsequently helped sustaining the productivity
gains. The conventional methods however are limited by sexual compatibility barriers.
With the advent of new biotechnology tools and techniques, it has been possible
to access genes from diverse biological systems and deploy in target species.
This has rendered the whole living world a single gene pool. Use of crystal
protein genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis in genetic engineering of crops like cotton clearly
depicts how genes from evolutionarily distant organisms can bring new
revolution in agricultural production. Besides Bt
genes, several other genes have also been prospected, validated and are being
deployed to gain commercial advantage. These efforts encourage prospecting of
novel genes and new alleles of the known genes from diverse biological sources
cutting across taxa and phyla and functionally
validate them for future deployment to enhance and sustain agricultural
productivity.
Perspective
i) Prospect novel genes, promoters and alleles
for economically important traits using indigenous bioresources,
ii) Functionally
validate the new genes in model systems and different genetic backgrounds,
iii) Transfer
of the validated genes and alleles to recipient species cutting across
biological barriers and
iv) Develop highly competent groups of scientists of international
standard drawn from various disciplines and institutions for undertaking
research in genomics and its application for improvement of agricultural
species.
This
would require elaborate efforts not only for identification of new genes and
alleles both for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, but also for their
functional validation and deployment. Liberal funding for a longer period would
be essential for its success.
In
short-term, the project seeks support through NAIP for three years to
specifically address four main objectives:
i) Generation of genomic resource base to
facilitate gene prospecting and allele mining,
ii)
Prospecting for new genes and alleles for abiotic stress tolerance (moisture
stress, salinity and sodicity, soil acidity, adverse
temperature and submergence/anoxia),
iii)
Functional validation of the identified genes in model plant systems and
iv) Use of the identified genes/allele in genetic enhancement
of target species.
The
project will try the following innovations and strategies to achieve the above
objectives:
i) Use
of high throughput genome-wide approach in genotyping using sequencebased
markers is an innovative way to discover new genes and alleles in the project,
ii)
Exploitation of natural adaptive mechanism for abiotic stress tolerance in
diverse biological systems including microbes, plants, animals and fishes,
iii)
Utilization of expertise cutting across diverse biological sciences to combat
the effects of global climate change,
iv)
Design
and use of new algorithms in the area of statistical and computational genomics
that would accelerate application of genomic technologies for utilization of
genetic resources and enhancement of agricultural species.
There
will be involvement of expertise available in 36 different institutions of the
country including ICAR institutes, state agricultural universities, central
universities and IIT. The organisms from which genes will be sourced for
abiotic stress tolerance are microbes particularly the extremophiles,
rice, maize, Sorghum, Lathyrus,Ziziphus, Cucumis, Vigna, camel, goat, trout, catfish, and shrimp.
Probability
of success, expected output and possible impact
This
project aims at preparing for meeting the challenges of abiotic stresses under
the changing climate. The target traits are genetically very complex and thus
problems posed are highly intractable. However, recent developments in the area
of genomics encourage initiation of concerted efforts that might lead to
finding solutions in long-run. The species chosen for prospecting genes and
mining alleles are genetically and biologically diverse with varying resource
base. Fortunately, a plenty of genetic and genomic resources are available in
some of these species such as rice and maize. Besides, a great deal of
information is already generated internationally on the genetic variation in
respect of the chosen traits in these crops. Therefore, there is a greater
chance of success in meeting the objectives in these two species. Similarly,
the probability of success is also high in case of microbes. Relative
simplicity of genomes and far greater genetic diversity of the microbial
systems would allow gene discovery and allele mining at a faster pace than in
case of plants and animals. In case of other species such as camel, goat,
fishes, Lathyrus, Vigna etc.,
with very little or even a lack of basic physiological and genetic information
on abiotic stress tolerance, the rate of progress would be slow. Addressing the
proposed objectives in these species would require a longer period. However,
keeping in view the robust genetic mechanism for abiotic stress tolerance these
species represent, it is worthwhile to initiate efforts to generate basic
resources including genetic and physiological information in these species.
The expected
outputs of the project would include:
i) A
knowledge database on bioprospecting and allele mining in the target microbe,
plant, animal and fish species for future use,
ii) Well
characterized germplasm resources and core sets of germplasm in different
species,
iii) New genomic resources, genes, alleles,
technology and genetic stocks in target species for abiotic stress tolerance,
iv) New information on the SNP/haplotype
structure indifferent species,
v) Information on spatial distribution of
genetic diversity and structure of populations in relation to useful allelic
variations,
vi) A pool of trained human resources and state-of-art
infrastructure to handle large scale genotyping of germplasm and
vii) Capacity building in statistical and
computational genomics.
The present project
will act as pilot for the second phase in which the resources generated and the
experience gained are efficiently used.
Possible overall impact of the project would
include the following:
i) Enhancement and stabilization of food
production under changing global climate in long-term,
ii) Greater precision in genetic improvement programmes thereby increasing the capability of Indian agricultural
research system to meet the challenges to productivity and its sustainability,
iii) Better understanding, value addition and
protection of indigenous biological wealth, and
iv) A core group of scientists to provide cutting edge
leadership in research in the field of gene and allele prospecting.