Research Projects

Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a well-known agricultural crop that yields economically important products such as seed oil and stem fiber. These two economic products are obtained from two different plant morphotypes, notably linseed and fiber flax, but belong to the same species. Linseed oil is used in food, feed, and paint industries, whereas flax fibre is important for the textile industries. Although linseed is widely grown in India, fibre flax production is limited because of its particular climatic needs and a scarcity of cultivars that can adapt to Indian conditions. As a result, the linen industry must rely only on fibre imports from European countries. Linseed is also imported in large quantities to meet industrial demand. One of the most significant criteria for developing efficient varieties in any plant species is the effective use of genomic information, particularly the functional characteristics of specific genes and other regulatory sequences. The pan-genomic strategy captures the genetic variety of plant species, resulting in comprehensive genomic data from numerous individuals. Pan-genomics in plants has shown to be a valuable tool for identifying novel alleles and SNP markers, diverse TE sequences and non-coding RNAs, and organelle sequences. Pan-genomes have been generated in various plants, including rice, maize, wheat, soybean, cotton, and others, and played a significant role in translational genomics. The present concept aims to create a pan-genomic sequence resource involving the Indian and global flax genepools to capture the entire genomic diversity. We also intend to use the flax pan-genome's core and variable sequences to identify novel genes and SNPs influencing seed, oil, and fibre quality traits, as well as functionally validate them. The same pan-genome dataset will aid in the identification of plastidial and mitochondrial genomic variants for prospective molecular barcoding applications. The flax pan-genome will also help identify key genes and sequences involved in climatic adaptation differences, as well as their evolutionary and domestication significance.