Research Projects

Kodo millet is known for its high nutrient content and superior drought tolerance. The proposed project aims to understand the physiological and molecular basis of drought tolerance in kodo millet genotypes. Comparative physiological studies will be conducted among the different genotypes of kodo millet to identify superior genotypes in susceptible and resistant to drought stress. similarly, pan-transcriptomics studies will also be conducted to identify differentially expressed genes (core and dispensable genes) and pathways conferring drought tolerance through RNA-seq. The differentially expressed genes will be further validated through quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The identified drought-responsive genes will be taken up for allele mining in diverse germplasm of kodo millet for breeding applications. This project is the first kind of study to elucidate the molecular basis of drought tolerance in kodo millet through a Pan-transcriptome approach.