BackgroundSheath rot disease caused by Sarocladium oryzae is an emerging threat for rice cultivation at global level. However, limited information with respect to genomic resources and pathogenesis is a major setback to develop disease management strategies. Considering this fact, we sequenced the whole genome of highly virulent Sarocladium oryzae field isolate, Saro-13 with 82x sequence depth.ResultsThe genome size of S. oryzae was 32.78 Mb with contig N50 18.07 Kb and 10526 protein coding genes. The functional annotation of protein coding genes revealed that S. oryzae genome has evolved with many expanded gene families of major super family, proteinases, zinc finger proteins, sugar transporters, dehydrogenases/reductases, cytochrome P450, WD domain G-beta repeat and FAD-binding proteins. Gene orthology analysis showed that around 79.80 % of S. oryzae genes were orthologous to other Ascomycetes fungi. The polyketide synthase dehydratase, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, amine oxidases, and aldehyde dehydrogenase family proteins were duplicated in larger proportion specifying the adaptive gene duplications to varying environmental conditions. Thirty-nine secondary metabolite gene clusters encoded for polyketide synthases, nonribosomal peptide synthase, and terpene cyclases. Protein homology based analysis indicated that nine putative candidate genes were found to be involved in helvolic acid biosynthesis pathway. The genes were arranged in cluster and structural organization of gene cluster was similar to helvolic acid biosynthesis cluster in Metarhizium anisophilae. Around 9.37 % of S. oryzae genes were identified as pathogenicity genes, which are experimentally proven in other phytopathogenic fungi and enlisted in pathogen-host interaction database. In addition, we also report 13212 simple sequences repeats (SSRs) which can be deployed in pathogen identification and population dynamic studies in near future.ConclusionsLarge set of pathogenicity determinants and putative genes involved in helvolic acid and cerulenin biosynthesis will have broader implications with respect to Sarocladium disease biology. This is the first genome sequencing report globally and the genomic resources developed from this study will have wider impact worldwide to understand Rice-Sarocladium interaction.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2599-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Sugarcane ( sp.) is predominantly grown in both tropics and subtropics in India, and the subtropics alone contribute more than half of sugarcane production. Sugarcane active growth period in subtropics is restricted to 8-9 months mainly due to winter's low temperature stress prevailing during November to February every year. Being a commercial crop, tolerance to low temperature is important in sugarcane improvement programs. Development of cold tolerant sugarcane varieties require a deep knowledge on molecular mechanism naturally adapted by cold tolerant genotypes during low temperature stress. To understand gene regulation under low temperature stress, control and stressed (10 °C, 24 h) leaf samples of cold tolerant IND 00-1037 collected from high altitude region in Arunachal Pradesh were used for transcriptome analysis using the Illumina NextSeq 500 platform with paired-end sequencing method. Raw reads of 5.1 GB (control) and 5.3 GB (stressed) obtained were assembled using trinity and annotated with UNIPROT, KEGG, GO, COG and SUCEST databases, and transcriptome was validated using qRT-PCR. The differential gene expression (DGE) analysis showed that 2583 genes were upregulated and 3302 genes were down-regulated upon low temperature stress. A total of 170 cold responsive transcriptional factors belonging to 30 families were differentially regulated. CBF6 (C-binding factor), a DNA binding transcriptional activation protein associated with cold acclimation and freezing tolerance was differentially upregulated. Many low temperature responsive genes involved in various metabolic pathways, viz. cold sensing through membrane fluidity, calcium and lipid signaling genes, MAP kinases, phytohormone signaling and biosynthetic genes, antioxidative enzymes, membrane and cellular stabilizing genes, genes involved in biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids, chaperones, LEA proteins, soluble sugars, osmoprotectants, lignin and pectin biosynthetic genes were also differentially upregulated. Potential cold responsive genes and transcriptional factors involved in cold tolerance mechanism in cold tolerant IND 00-1037 were identified. Together, this study provides insights into the cold tolerance to low temperature stress in , thus opening applications in the genetic improvement of cold stress tolerance in sugarcane.

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Sugarcane is a trans-seasonal long-duration crop and tillering phase (60–150 days) is the most sensitive phase for moisture stress, causing significant reduction in biomass accumulation. The study focussed to assess the Genotype × Environment Interaction (GEI) for tillering phase moisture stress and to identify the stable genotypes in sugarcane. The study dealt with 14 drought tolerant genotypes and two standards (Co 86032 and CoM 0265) which were evaluated in two plant and one ratoon trials at four locations in Maharashtra, India. The moisture stress was imposed for 60 days from 90 to 150 days after planting and corresponded to tillering phase by withholding the irrigation. The AMMI ANOVA showed significant GEI for cane and CCS yield accounting 18.33 and 19.45 percent of variability respectively. Drought and genotype main effects were highly significant accounting 49.08 and 32.59 percent variability for cane yield and, 52.45 and 28.10 percent variability for CCS yield respectively. The first two interactive principal component (IPCA) biplots of AMMI showed diverse nature of all four environments and the Discriminative vs Mean biplots of Genotype + genotype × environment interaction (GGE) model showed that ‘Pune’ as the highly discriminating environment. The genotype ranking biplots of GGE showed that Co 85019 was the most stable genotype followed by Co 98017. Similar results were also observed in Yield vs IPCA1 biplot of AMMI, which revealed Co 85019 and Co 98017 as high yielding stable varieties. Yield related environmental maximum (YREM) showed thirteen and nine percent loss due to crossover interactions in Co 85019 for cane yield and CCS yield respectively. The multi-environment BLUP and genotype stability index (GSI) has reaffirmed that Co 85019 as a drought proof and stable genotype with high yield under tillering phase drought stress. The results suggested using Co 85019 for cultivation in drought prone regions and the usefulness of the methodology for identifying more such sugarcane varieties for the benefit of resource poor famers in drought affected regions.

Sugarcane is a C4 and agro-industry-based crop with a high potential for biomass production. It serves as raw material for the production of sugar, ethanol, and electricity. Modern sugarcane varieties are derived from the interspecific and intergeneric hybridization between Saccharum officinarum, Saccharum spontaneum, and other wild relatives. Sugarcane breeding programmes are broadly categorized into germplasm collection and characterization, pre-breeding and genetic base-broadening, and varietal development programmes. The varietal identification through the classic breeding programme requires a minimum of 12–14 years. The precise phenotyping in sugarcane is extremely tedious due to the high propensity of lodging and suckering owing to the influence of environmental factors and crop management practices. This kind of phenotyping requires data from both plant crop and ratoon experiments conducted over locations and seasons. In this review, we explored the feasibility of genomic selection schemes for various breeding programmes in sugarcane. The genetic diversity analysis using genome-wide markers helps in the formation of core set germplasm representing the total genomic diversity present in the Saccharum gene bank. The genome-wide association studies and genomic prediction in the Saccharum gene bank are helpful to identify the complete genomic resources for cane yield, commercial cane sugar, tolerances to biotic and abiotic stresses, and other agronomic traits. The implementation of genomic selection in pre-breeding, genetic base-broadening programmes assist in precise introgression of specific genes and recurrent selection schemes enhance the higher frequency of favorable alleles in the population with a considerable reduction in breeding cycles and population size. The integration of environmental covariates and genomic prediction in multi-environment trials assists in the prediction of varietal performance for different agro-climatic zones. This review also directed its focus on enhancing the genetic gain over time, cost, and resource allocation at various stages of breeding programmes.

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Co 11015 (Atulya) has been notified for cultivation in Tamil Nadu as a short duration variety in the 83 rd meeting of Central Sub Committee on Crop Standards, Notification, Government of India. This variety combines high cane yield and high sucrose content right from 8 months to 12 months of crop age. Co 11015 is evolved from the cross CoC 671 and Co 86011 at ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore. The clone showed a remarkably good performance in the clonal trials with clear superiority over the standards Co 86032 and CoC 671. In station trials, it recorded a cane yield of 135.70 t ha -1 , sucrose of 21.46 % and sugar yield of 20.09 t ha -1 at 360 days. Fig. 2. Morphological features of sugarcane short duration variety Co 11015

Plant nuclear factor (NF-Y) is a transcription activating factor, consisting of three subunits, and plays a key regulatory role in many stress-responsive mechanisms including drought and salinity stresses. NF-Ys function both as complex and individual subunits. Considering the importance of sugarcane as a commercial crop with high socio-economic importance and the crop being affected mostly by water deficit stress and salinity stress causing significant yield loss, nuclear transcriptional factor NF-YB2 was focused in this study. Plant nuclear factor subunit B2 from Erianthus arundinaceus (EaNF-YB2), a wild relative of sugarcane which is known for its drought and salinity stress tolerance, and commercial Saccharum hybrid Co 86032 (ShNF-YB2) was isolated and characterized. Both EaNF-YB2 and ShNF-YB2 genes are 543 bp long that encodes for a polypeptide of 180 amino acid residues. Comparison of EaNF-YB2 and ShNF-YB2 gene sequences revealed nucleotide substitutions at nine positions corresponding to three synonymous and six nonsynonymous amino acid substitutions that resulted in variations in physiochemical properties. However, multiple sequence alignment (MSA) of NF-YB2 proteins showed conservation of functionally important amino acid residues. In silico analysis revealed NF-YB2 to be a hydrophilic and intracellular protein, and EaNF-YB2 is thermally more stable than that of ShNF-YB2. Phylogenetic analysis suggested the lower rate of evolution of NF-YB2. Subcellular localization in sugarcane callus revealed NF-YB2 localization at nucleus that further evidenced it to be a transcription activation factor. Comparative RT-qPCR experiments showed a significantly higher level of NF-YB2 expression in E. arundinaceus when compared to that in the commercial Saccharum hybrid Co 86032 under drought and salinity stresses. Hence, EaNF-YB2 could be an ideal candidate gene, and its overexpression in sugarcane through genetic engineering approach might enhance tolerance to drought and salinity stresses.