Sweet corn has become a popular food worldwide. It possesses six-times more sugar than field corn due to the presence of recessive shrunken2 (sh2) gene. Despite availability of diverse sweet corn germplasm, comprehensive characterization of sh2 has not been undertaken so far. Here, entire Sh2 gene (7320 bp) among five field corn-(Sh2Sh2) and six sweet corn-(sh2sh2) inbreds was sequenced. A total of 686 SNPs and 372 InDels were identified, of which three SNPs differentiated the wild-(Sh2) and mutant-(sh2) allele. Ten InDel markers were developed to assess sh2 gene-based diversity among 23 sweet corn and 25 field corn lines. Twenty-five alleles and 47 haplotypes of sh2 were identified among 48 inbreds. Among markers, MGU-InDel-2, MGU-InDel-3, MGU-InDel-5 and MGU-InDel-8 had PIC>0.5. Major allele frequency varied from 0.458–0.958. The gene sequence of these maize inbreds was compared with 25 orthologues of monocots. Sh2 gene possessed 15–18 exons with 6-225bp among maize, while it was 6–21 exons with 30-441bp among orthologues. While intron length across maize genotypes varied between 67-2069bp, the same among orthologues was 57–2713 bp. Sh2-encoded AGPase domain was more conserved than NTP transferase domain. Nucleotide and protein sequences of sh2 in maize and orthologues revealed that rice orthologue was closer to maize than other monocots. The study also provided details of motifs and domains present in sh2 gene, physicochemical properties and secondary structure of SH2 protein in maize inbreds and orthologues. This study reports detailed characterization and diversity analysis in sh2 gene of maize and related orthologues in various monocots.

Landraces are important genetic resources that have a significant role in maintaining the long-term sustainability of traditional agro-ecosystems, food, nutrition, and livelihood security. In an effort to document landraces in the on-farm conservation context, Central Western Ghat region in India was surveyed. A total of 671 landraces belonging to 60 crops were recorded from 24 sites. The custodian farmers were found to conserve a variety of crops including vegetables, cereals and pulses, perennial fruits, spices, tuber and plantation crops. The survey indicated a difference in the prevalence of landraces across the sites. A significant difference with respect to the Shannon-diversity index, Gini-Simpson index, evenness, species richness, and abundance was observed among the different survey sites. Computation of a prevalence index indicated the need for immediate intervention in the form of collecting and ex situ conservation of landraces of some crops as a back-up to on-farm conservation. The study also identified the critical determinants of on-farm conservation, including (i) suitability to regional conditions, (ii) relevance in regional cuisine and local medicinal practices, (iii) cultural and traditional significance, and (iv) economic advantage. The information documented in this study is expected to promote the collection and conservation of landraces ex situ. The National Genebank housed at ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi conserves around 550 accessions of landraces collected from the Central Western Ghats region surveyed in this report. Information collected from custodian farmers on specific uses will be helpful to enhance the utilization of these accessions.

The adzuki bean (Vigna angularis), known for its rich nutritional composition, holds significant promise in addressing food and nutritional security, particularly for low socioeconomic classes and the predominantly vegetarian and vegan populations worldwide. In this study, we assessed a total of 100 diverse adzuki bean accessions, analyzing essential nutritional compounds using AOAC’s official analysis procedures and other widely accepted standard techniques. Our analysis of variance revealed significant genotype variations for all the traits studied. The variability range among different traits was as follows: moisture: 7.5–13.3 g/100 g, ash: 1.8–4.2 g/100 g, protein: 18.0–23.9 g/100 g, starch: 31.0–43.9 g/100 g, total soluble sugar: 3.0–8.2 g/100 g, phytic acid: 0.65–1.43 g/100 g, phenol: 0.01–0.59 g/100 g, antioxidant: 11.4–19.7 mg/100 g GAE. Noteworthy accessions included IC341955 and EC15256, exhibiting very high protein content, while IC341957 and IC341955 showed increased antioxidant activity. To understand intertrait relationships, we computed correlation coefficients between the traits. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that the first four principal components contributed to 63.6% of the variation. Further, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) identified nutri-dense accessions, such as IC360533, characterized by high ash (>4.2 g/100 g) and protein (>23.4 g/100 g) content and low phytic acid (0.652 g/100 g). These promising compositions provide practical support for the development of high-value food and feed varieties using effective breeding strategies, ultimately contributing to improved global food security.

Edible oil with lower saturated fatty acids is desired for perceived quality and health benefits to humans and livestock. fatb gene encoding acyl-ACP thioesterase is a key player in the conversion of palmitic acid to oleic acid, thereby modifying the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids in maize kernels. The present investigation characterised the full-length sequence of the Zmfatb gene (4.63 kb) in two mutants (Zmfatb) and eight wild-types (ZmfatB) inbreds to study allelic variation, gene-based diversity, phylogenetic-relationship, protein-modelling, and molecular-docking to identify novel candidates for modification of fatty acid profile. Sequence alignment revealed wide genomic variability for Zmfatb among the inbreds; identified five novel SNPs and two InDels that clearly differentiated the wild-type and mutant genotypes. Gene-based diversity using 11-InDel markers categorised 48-diverse maize-inbreds into two-clusters. The majority of mutant and wild-type inbreds were grouped in separate clusters and led to the generation of 41 haplotypes. Genetic relationship of maize fatb gene with orthologues among 40 accessions of 12 oilseed-crops using both nucleotide and protein sequence clustered maize, soybean, sunflower, opium-poppy, Citrulus lanata, quinoa, and prunus species into one cluster; and brassica, camelina, and arabidopsis into the different cluster. The clustering pattern revealed that the plant oil with higher unsaturated fatty acids, particularly oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids grouped together in one cluster and higher proportions of other fractions like arachidic, eicosenoic, and erucic acids grouped in another cluster. Physico-chemical properties highlighted more similarity between maize and 29 orthologue proteins, but orthologues were found to have better thermostability. Homology models have been developed for maize mutant and wild-type inbreds using Umbellularia californica (PDB ID: 5x04) as a template. Predicted protein models possessed optimum confidence-score and RMSD values and validated stability via., Ramachandran plots. Molecular docking indicated most of the interactions of protein-ligand were having similar binding-affinity due to the broader specificity of fatty acyl-ACP thioesterases and the presence of conserved-domains across crops. This is the first report on the comprehensive molecular characterisation of the fatb gene in maize and various orthologues. The information generated here provided new insights into the genetic diversity of fatb gene which can be utilised for the enhanced nutritive value of oil in the breeding programme.