APPLICATIONS OF MOLECULAR MARKERS AND GENOMIC TOOLS IN PEARL MILLET [CENCHRUS AMERICANUS (L.) MORRONESYN. PENNISETUM GLAUCUM (L.) R. BR.]

Thisreviewsummarizesthemainmolecularmarkersandtheirapplicationson pearl milletaswellasasummaryof the discoveriesonitsreferencegenome.Molecularmarkers,unlikemorphologicalandbiochemicalmarkers,arehighlypolymorphicandneutral. Theirgreatliabilitycomesfromthefactthattheydirectlyconcern the DNA.Theyhavebeenwidelyusedonpearl millet,rangingfromlow andmedium-throughputtohigh-throughput markers, targetingspecificregionsorcharacterizinggermplasmat thegenomelevel. Many studiesrelatetomappingusingdifferentpopulationsandhaveidentifiedQTLslinkedtoimportantagronomictraits(floweringtime,tolerancetodrought,to mildew,phosphorus absorption),iron content...Studieshavealsobeenconductedondomesticationsyndromeandshowedtheir importance of genes flowfromwildmilletstocultivatedvarieties. Genotyping-by-Sequencing - a rapid, cost-effective and reduced representation sequencing method – has been used to assess genetic diversity, population structure, LD and heterotic pool formation in pearl millet. A draft genome sequence that can serve as a reference for further development of genomics-assisted breeding is now available. It is an important milestone in generating genomic resources for pearl millet. Annotation of 24,000 genes indicates that enrichment of wax biosynthesis genes providing potential genetic mechanisms for heat and drought tolerance. Althoughmolecularmarkersarewidelyappliedtomillet,geneticandgenomicresourcesarestilllimitedcomparedtootherimportantcereals.However,theavailabilityofacollectionofinbredlinesrepresentativeofgermplasmandareferencegenomeoffernewperspectivesintheimprovement of pearl millet.