Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is a staple food and a drought-tolerant cereal well adapted to Sub-Saharan Africa agro-ecosystems. An important diversity of pearl millet landraces has been widely conserved by farmers and therefore could help copping with climate changes and contribute to future food security. Hence, characterizing its genetic diversity and population structure can...

The identification of genes selected during and after plant domestication is an important research topic to enhance knowledge on adaptative evolution. Adaptation to different climates was a key factor in the spread of domesticated crops. We conducted a study to identify genes responsible for these adaptations in pearl millet and developed an association framework to identify genetic variations ...

Polygalacturonase-inhibitor protein (PGIP) is a defense protein found in plant cell walls. It prevents the degradation of pectin by modulating the endo-polygalacturonase activity. The present study has used heterologous anti-bean PGIP probes to investigate the role of PGIP in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L) R. Br.] resistance against downy mildew caused by oomycete pathogen Sclerospora gra...

Native endophytic actinomycetes isolated from pearl millet roots were examined for their efficacy to protect pearl millet against downy mildew. Nineteen of 39 isolates were found to be proteolytic, of which 7 strains could directly suppress the sporangium formation of Sclerospora graminicola, the pearl millet downy mildew pathogen. Thus, mycelial suspensions containing either spores or cell-fre...

Pearl millet [Penisetum glaucum (L) R. Br.] is a hardy cereal crop grown in the arid and semiarid tropics where other cereals are likely to fail to produce economic yields due to drought and heat stresses. Adaptive evolution, a form of natural selection shaped the crop to grow and yield satisfactorily with limited moisture supply or under periodic water deficits in the soil. Drought tolerance i...

Rice, wheat, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet are the major cereal staples of Indian households but sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet are only consumed in the regions in which they are cultivated. Sorghum is the staple of central and western regions of Maharashtra and the northern regions of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and pearl millet is mainly consumed in the western states of I...

Deficiencies of essential micronutrients such as iron and zinc are the cause of extensive health problems in developing countries. They adversely affect performance, productivity and are a major hindrance to economic development. Since many people who suffer from micronutrient deficiencies are dependent on staple crops to meet their dietary requirements, the development of crop cultivars with i...

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) and napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) are the most economically important species in the genus Pennisetum. Knowledge of genetic diversity of these two species would enhance their potentials for utilization. The present work assessed the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship among Nigerian and Indian accessions of pearl millet an...

Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., Poaceae] has been historically grown for forage production and cattle grazing in the US. It is widely grown as a multi-purpose cereal grain crop principally for food, and also for feed, fodder, fuel, and mulch on more than 26 million hectares, primarily in arid and semi-arid regions of India and Africa (FAO 2000). It is a staple grain for about 90 m...

The objective of this study was to identify morphological and physiological traits for salinity tolerance in Tunisian autochthonous ZZ pearl millet ecotype (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br) under local conditions. ZZ ecotype was cultivated under different levels of salinity and growth parameters, water relations and mineral content were measured. Results showed that ZZ pearl millet ecotype was un...