Pangenomics for developing salinity stress-tolerant plants
Genome mapping; Pangenomics; Salinity stress; Stress tolerance; Sustainability
Soil salinity is a critical agricultural challenge that significantly reduces crop productivity and threatens global food security. With approximately 20% of irrigated land affected by salinity, innovative strategies are essential to develop salinity stress-tolerant crops. The field of pangenomics, a comprehensive approach to studying the genetic diversity within species, has immense potential to address this issue. Pangenomics includes core genomes, spanning the entire genus, and accessory genomes, which are species-specific, thus capturing the full spectrum of genetic variation. This approach enables the identification of novel genes and alleles associated with salinity tolerance, providing a robust foundation for genetic improvement programs. Salinity stress has a profound molecular and physiological impact on plants with multiple phenotypic manifestations, such as stunted growth, lesser crop yield, and reduced reproductive success. To solve these issues, advanced sequencing technologies and bioinformatics tools used in constructing and analyzing pangenomes play a crucial role. This chapter goes into detail about techniques such as comparative genomics and genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which are important for their effectiveness in identifying salinity tolerance genes. Functional validation methods, including CRISPR/Cas9 and RNA interference (RNAi), have also been discussed. This chapter highlights case studies on crops like rice and wheat to demonstrate the practical applications of pangenomics in developing salinity-tolerant varieties. Furthermore, by addressing the challenges and future directions in the field, one can emphasize the need for integrating multiomics data and refining analytical methods. Such an approach can help guide future research and breeding efforts toward sustainable agricultural practices and enhanced global food security. 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Shaikh, Akash; Toppo, Varsha; Al-Khayri, Jameel M; Nagella, Praveen
Plant Pangenomes and Pangenomics;pp.237-254
Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-26791-8.00012-1 https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105025827688?origin=resultslist
Shaikh A., Department of Life Sciences, School of Sciences, Christ University, Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; Toppo V., Department of Life Sciences, School of Sciences, Christ University, Karnataka, Bengaluru, India; Al-Khayri J.M., Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia; Nagella P., Department of Life Sciences, School of Sciences, Christ University, Karnataka, Bengaluru, India