S. Vishnu Sharma
Researchers at IISER Bhopal have sequenced the genome of turmeric plant for the first time in the world.
The results of the work done by researchers at IISER Bhopal has been recently published in a journal belonging to the prestigious Nature Group ‘Communication Biology.’
The paper has been co-authored by Mr. Abhisek Chakraborty, Ms. Shruti Mahajan, Mr. Shubham K. Jaiswal and Dr Vineet K. Sharma of IISER Bhopal.
Researchers at IISER Bhopal
Researchers at IISER Bhopal were led by Dr. Vineet K. Sharma, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences.
With increasing interest in herbal medicines all over the world, researchers are focusing on the poorly understood areas of herbs such as their genetic backgrounds, say researchers at IISER Bhopal.
The developments in DNA and RNA sequencing technologies have spurred on a new discipline called “herbal genomics” that are targeted to understanding the genetic composition of herbs and their relationship to the medicinal traits.
Given the nascency of the field of herbal genomics and the complexity of herbal systems, only a few well assembled herbal genomes have been studied so far, say researchers at IISER Bhopal.
Uniqueness
Dr. Vineet K. Sharma spoke about the uniqueness of the work done by researchers at IISER Bhopal. ‘We have, for the first time in the world, sequenced the genome of Turmeric, the golden spice of India.’
This work is significant because turmeric has been focused in more than 3,000 publications, but the whole genome sequence was not known until the IISER team’s work on it, said Dr. Vineet who led the researchers at IISER Bhopal.
Techniques
The researchers at IISER Bhopal have used two techniques – the short-read sequencing of 10x Genomics (Chromium) and long-read Oxford Nanopore sequencing – to unravel the genetic makeup of turmeric.
The draft genome assembly had a size of 1.02 Gbp with ~70% repetitive sequences and contained 50,401 coding gene sequences.
Lead researcher
Being the first elucidation of the genetic makeup of turmeric, our study has provided hitherto unknown information about the plant, said Dr. Sharma who led the researchers at IISER Bhopal.
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The IISER sequencing and analysis has also confirmed the triploid genetic makeup of turmeric. We have also elucidated the position of turmeric in the evolutionary pathway through our genomic sequencing, said Dr. Sharma.
Comparative Evolutionary Analysis
The researchers performed comparative evolutionary analysis across 17 plant species. The comparison showed the evolution of genes associated with secondary metabolism, plant phytohormones signaling, and various biotic and abiotic stress tolerance responses.
The researchers at IISER Bhopal have, for the first time, revealed the genetic structures associated with major enzymes involved in the production of curcuminoids, the key medicinal compounds present in turmeric.
They have also shown the evolutionary origin of these enzymes.
The studies by researchers at IISER Bhopal have shown that many genes in turmeric have evolved in response to environmental stressors, said Dr. Sharma.
To survive under environmental stress conditions, the turmeric plant has developed unique genetic pathways for synthesis of secondary metabolites such as curcuminoids for its own survival, he said.
These secondary metabolites are responsible for the medicinal properties of the herb. Given that turmeric has been widely used in the Indian medicinal systems for centuries, its translation into modern medicine is being pursued in recent years, say researchers at IISER Bhopal.
In this context, the genome sequence of turmeric would be instrumental in its incorporation into mainstream medicinal systems. The genome sequencing of this medicinal plant provides new insights on the origin of the medicinal properties of this plant will also aid further studies on this species, genus, and family, say researchers at IISER Bhopal.
About IISER Bhopal
Established by the Ministry of Education (then Ministry of Human Resource & Development), Government of India, in 2008, IISER Bhopal is the youngest of the first five IISERs. In a decade, the Institute has received several distinctions, duly carving out its own position in the national and international arena.
With a vision to provide high quality education to the students and contribute to the society through its research, IISER Bhopal is the first IISER to have been declared by the Ministry of Education for project competition.
IISER Bhopal is continuously consolidating its position in the National land International rankings and has secured 40th place in The National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
Along with this, IISER Bhopal has gained rank 201 in the overall category of the QS Asia Ranking. The Institute has also been ranked 26 (National Rank, out of 63 in the 1000 Institutes) in the Times Higher Education 2021 Rankings.
