Breakthrough pigeonpea genome re-sequencing will lead to superior varieties and make the pulse more affordable
(WorldNews Environment)

Dr Rajeev K Varshney Research Program Director and Senior Scientist Dr Rachit Saxena inspect pigeonpea accessions for agronomically important traits and disease resistance. Photo: S Sharma, ICRISAT Hyderabad, India (22 May 2017) - In a significant breakthrough, a global team of 19 scientists from 9 institutes have re-sequenced the genome or DNA of 292 pigeonpea varieties (Cajanus cajan - commonly called arhar or tur dal in India) and discovered new traits such as resistance to various diseases that affect the crop and its insensitivity to photo-period (the duration of daylight hours required for reaching maturity). The research also traces the likely origin of the domesticated pigeonpea to...