Scientists develop a draft genome of Amla
New Delhi, Oct 04: Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal (IISER-Bhopal), have, for the first time, generated a draft genome of the Indian gooseberry plant, popularly known as Amla.
The study is significant as Amla is used for making various nutraceutical, food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products since it contained several chemicals with biological activities like vitamin C, flavonoids, tannins, etc. Called phytochemicals, these chemicals help amla to act as an antioxidant and have immunomodulatory, antimicrobial and anti-diabetic properties.
The production of the phytochemicals is regulated by multiple genes present in the genome. However, the available genetic resources of Amla provide limited information to study all the genes. The new study fills the gap as it has uncovered the complete set of genes. This is expected to help by making it possible to develop cultivars (or varieties) of the plant with enhanced production of these bioactive phytochemicals, besides offering higher yields, disease resistance, shelf life and other such advantages.
Dr Vineet Sharma, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at IISER-Bhopal, and leader of the study team, said , “the availability of this genome will serve as a valuable resource for researchers. It will be a foundational asset for conducting various molecular biology investigations centred around Amla and offer insights into a wide range of genes of interest. This genomic information will also be a significant contribution to the broader scientific community and promote advancements in diverse research related to Amla”.
The researchers have published a report on their study in the open-access journal, Frontiers in Plant Science (https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1210078). The study team included Shruti Mahajan, Manohar Singh Bisht, and Abhisek Chakraborty, besides Dr Sharma.
