A Multidimensional OMICs Approach for Pearl Millet Drought Adaptation Improvement in Africa (MilOmics)
- Cereal: Pearl Milet
- Abiotic Stressor: Drought
- Principal Investigator: Oumar Diack, Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA-CERAAS)
Understanding how pearl millet adapts to drought requires linking plant traits, gene activity, and environmental response across multiple levels of analysis. In West Africa, both early- and terminal-stage drought significantly reduce yield, and current varieties remain vulnerable despite advances in conventional breeding. This effort focuses on identifying the physiological and molecular mechanisms that contribute to drought adaptation by integrating phenotypic, genomic, and transcriptomic data across a diverse panel of West African germplasm.
Field and controlled-environment evaluations will characterize root architecture, photosynthetic efficiency, and aerial traits under irrigated, early drought, and terminal drought conditions. These phenotypic datasets will be combined with genomic data to identify alleles and genomic regions associated with drought-related traits, while transcriptomic analyses will identify differentially expressed genes and gene networks that regulate stress response. This multi-dimensional OMICs approach enables a systems-level understanding of how genes interact to influence drought adaptation.
Key outputs include identifying candidate genes and gene networks, validated genetic markers, and an expanded genotyping platform with approximately 3,000 loci for pearl millet. In addition, a genomic and breeding database interface will be developed to allow researchers and breeders to access, query, and apply project data for parent selection and trait prioritization. Together, these resources provide a foundation for data-driven breeding by improving the ability to link phenotype to genotype and apply this knowledge within breeding programs targeting drought-prone environments.