Towards Harnessing the ‘Crop of The Future’: An Insight into Grain Amaranth Genome
Subhashini Srinivasan,
DBT Fellow & Faculty Scientist,
Institute of Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnology
Most cereals are low
in lysine, one the most essential amino acids. Low lysine renders children vulnerable to
infectious diseases and irreversibly
compromised IQ. Most cereals are low in lysine, one of the most essential amino
acids. Low Lysine renders children vulnerable to infectious diseases and irreversibly
compromised. Although engineering high-lysine maize met with limited success, high-lysine rice and wheat
displayed pathetic yield. The
inherent inverse correlation between high-lysine and low-yield phenotypes is missing from grain Amaranths, a
much-neglected pseudo-cereal.
India happens to be one of a very few countries with continuous record of cultivation and consumption of
grain Amaranths during recent
times. Known by the names of rajgira or ramdana, the grain and its
superior nutritional profile are still obscure
to the masses. Our inte
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