In a first, bajra genome sequenced

from the Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics or ICRISAT, have led an international effort to decode and sequence the bajra or pearl millet genome for the first time. "We have sequenced 1,000 bajra varieties," says ICRISAT's Professor Rajeev Varshney. "Bajra's genome had not been sequenced till now since it is not important to the US and Europe, where research capacity is concentrated. And the research community in India and Africa, where the plant is a staple, were not technologically conversant. Moreover, 10 years back, this process would have cost a lot of money and time. Now, with better technology, this was a shorter and cheaper process." Varshney and 64 other scientists discovered how bajra survives high temperatures and drought. According to Varshney, while cereals like rice or maize form their grain at lower temperatures, bajra can do so in temperatures of up to 42 C. Also, compared to wheat, rice or maize, bajra has a more diverse repertoire of genes for natural wax proteins, which act as thermal protection for the plant. The findings, published in Nature Biotechnology, could boost efforts to improve bajra's yields for millions of people in arid and semi-arid Africa and Asia.