Abstract
Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is one of the oldest oilseed crops widely grown in Africa and Asia for its high-quality nutritional seeds. It is well adapted to harsh environments and constitutes an alternative cash crop for smallholders in developing countries. Despite its economic and nutritional importance, sesame is considered as an orphan crop because it has received very little attention from science. As a consequence, it lags behind the other major oil crops as far as genetic improvement is concerned. In recent years, the scenario has considerably changed with the decoding of the sesame nuclear genome leading to the development of various genomic resources including molecular markers, comprehensive genetic maps, high-quality transcriptome assemblies, web-based functional databases and diverse daft genome sequences. The availability of these tools in association with the discovery of candidate genes and quantitative trait locis for key agronomic traits including high oil content and quality, waterlogging and drought tolerance, disease resistance, cytoplasmic male sterility, high yield, pave the way to the development of some new strategies for sesame genetic improvement. As a result, sesame has graduated from an “orphan crop” to a “genomic resource-rich crop.” With the limited research teams working on sesame worldwide, more synergic efforts are needed to integrate these resources in sesame breeding for productivity upsurge, ensuring food security and improved livelihood in developing countries. This review retraces the evolution of sesame research by highlighting the recent advances in the “Omics” area and also critically discusses the future prospects for a further genetic improvement and a better expansion of this crop.
Highlights
Since the beginning of agriculture, humans have been selecting and cultivating crops that would serve their taste, energy, and health requirements (Nagaraj, 2009)
First dense genetic map 10 markers associated with oil, oleic acid, linoleic acid and protein 30 quantitative trait loci (QTL) 19 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) linked to oil content and 24 SSR associated with protein content 549 associated loci and 46 causative genes linked to key agronomic traits 41 QTLs linked to plant height and 9 QTLs linked to First genetic map with 13 Linkage Groups (LG) 6 QTLs linked to seed coat color and Identification of PPO gene related to black seed coat color First ultra-dense genetic map with 13 LGs Identification of the determinacy gene SiDt Genetic map with 13 LGs High-density genetic map with 13 LGs, identification of SiFA and SiBH linked to Number of flowers per axil and Branching habit, respectively
Sesame has become an emerging crop in the world and its entrance into the “Omics” era has raised it at the “genomic resource-rich crop” level
Summary
Since the beginning of agriculture, humans have been selecting and cultivating crops that would serve their taste, energy, and health requirements (Nagaraj, 2009). Works of Wei et al (2012), Zhang H. et al (2012), Wang et al (2014a) yielded various transcriptome resources related to sesame growth and developmental stages using various sequencing technologies including Illumina HiSeq 2000 and GAII These studies increased our understanding on the genomic background underpinning sesame growth and development. In order to use these map resources to their maximum advantage, it would be ideal to construct a consensus map that will provide a framework of unprecedented marker density and genome coverage for fine QTL analysis, association mapping, facilitating the application of molecular breeding strategies in diverse sesame germplasms In this regard, an effective collaboration between the different sesame working teams will help achieve this goal. 107F2 216 Chinese collection 224 RIL 369 worldwide accessions 705 worldwide accessions 430 RIL
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