Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is a small diploid C4 panicoid crop species, whose genome is being sequenced by the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) of the Department of Energy. The rationale for sequencing foxtail millet is that it is closely related to the bioenergy grasses switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum), and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), yet is a more tr...

Linoleic acid was isolated from both the methanol extracts of proso and Japanese millet as a histone deacetylase inhibitor. It showed uncompetitive inhibitory activity toward histone deacetylase (IC(50)=0.51 mM) and potent cytotoxicity toward human leukemia K562 (IC(50)=68 microM) and prostate cancer LNCaP cells (IC(50)=193 microM). Millet containing linoleic acid might have anti-tumor activity.

BACKGROUND In Uganda, the chaff remaining from threshed panicles of millet and sorghum is a low value, lignocellulose-rich agricultural by-product. Currently, it is used as a substrate for the cultivation of edible Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus). The aim of this study was to assess the potential to exploit the residual post-harvest compost for saccharification and fermentation to produc...

Foxtail millet (Setariaitalica L.) is a tractable experimental model crop for studying functional genomics of millets and bioenergy grasses. But the limited availability of genomic resources, particularly expressed sequence-based genic markers is significantly impeding its genetic improvement. Considering this, we attempted to develop EST-derived-SSR (eSSR) markers and utilize them in germplasm...

Pearl millet is one of the most important subsistence crops grown in India and sub-Saharan Africa. In many cereal crops, reduced height is a key trait for enhancing yield, and dwarf mutants have been extensively used in breeding to reduce yield loss due to lodging under intense management. In pearl millet, the recessive d2 dwarfing gene has been deployed widely in commercial germplasm grown in ...

Sorghum and millet grains were assessed as single treatments and combined in various proportions to determine their suitability for production of spawns and carpophores of Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq. Ex. Fr) Kummer. The mycelia growth rates on the grains, one of the parameters assessed, were measured from the third to the ninth day of incubation. In addition, for each replicate of the various tr...

Over the past several decades, donors, multilateral organizations and governments have invested substantial resources in developing and disseminating improved varieties of sorghum and millet in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Sorghum and the millets, a group of small-seeded grasses indigenous to SSA, are two of the most important staple foods in this region. Primarily cultivated by smallholder farmer...

The capability to utilize different forms of nitrogen (N) by sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), rice (Oryza sativa), maize (Zea mays), and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) was determined in pot experiments. Seedlings were grown for 21 d without N, or with 500 mg N kg(-1) soil applied as ammonium nitrate, rice bran or a mixture of rice bran and straw. No treatment-dependent changes of root length, surf...

This study aimed to estimate the amount of biomass energy that can be acquired from crop residues in Eritrea, a country horn Africa with population 6 million and having national income per capita is around 150 US dollars. It’s an agricultural country. The potential was calculated by considering calorific values available residue. For year 2015, total value estimated approximately 1332.34TJ. Acc...