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ICAR has developed India's first fully annotated telomere-to-telomere (T2T) reference genome of pigeonpea, using the variety 'Asha'.
The assembly contains 752.65 million base pairs across 92 contigs, covering all 11 chromosomes with all 11 centromeres and 22 telomeres.
Annotation identified 36,557 genes producing 48,008 mRNAs, with transcriptome mapping recording more than 99.9 per cent read alignment.
The assembly, designated NIPB_CcT2T_4, was deposited with NCBI under accession number GCF_000230855.1 and released on 20 April 2026.
It builds on ICAR-NIPB's 2011 draft genome of the same variety, which was the world's first draft genome of a pulse crop and the first crop genome sequenced entirely in India.
Earlier genome assemblies were drafts, and the word matters. Sequencing machines read short fragments of DNA, and software stitches those reads into longer stretches called contigs. Repetitive regions — especially centromeres at the middle of each chromosome and telomeres at the ends — read identically over and over, so the software cannot tell where one repeat stops and the next begins. Draft genomes therefore left gaps precisely at these regions. A telomere-to-telomere assembly closes them: the sequence runs unbroken from one chromosome end to the other. The pigeonpea assembly reports all 11 chromosomes with all 11 centromeres and 22 telomeres present — two telomeres per chromosome — which is what 'chromosome-level completeness' means. The practical payoff is that breeders can locate genes for drought tolerance, disease resistance or protein content anywhere in the genome, including regions that drafts could not resolve, and use them in marker-assisted selection and genome editing.
Simple Analogy: A draft genome is a book with several pages torn out in the middle and at both ends; a T2T genome is the complete book, first page to last.
ICAR-National Institute for Plant Biotechnology publishes the world's first draft genome of a pulse crop, using pigeonpea variety 'Asha' — also the first crop genome sequenced entirely in India
An improved version of the draft genome is published
The complete telomere-to-telomere assembly NIPB_CcT2T_4 is released and deposited with NCBI under accession GCF_000230855.1
Achieve self-sufficiency in pulse production, cut import dependence and raise farmer incomes
Key: Runs from 2025-26 to 2030-31 and works through improved seeds, area expansion, technology adoption, assured procurement and strengthened post-harvest infrastructure; targets pulse production of about 35 million tonnes by 2030-31
Translate research into field-level gains for pulse farmers
Key: Develops high-yielding, pest-resistant and climate-resilient varieties, supervises breeder seed production, conducts multi-location trials, and disseminates technology through its institutes and Krishi Vigyan Kendras
The apex body coordinating, guiding and managing agricultural research and education in India, including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences
The institute whose pigeonpea genomics work produced the 2011 draft genome, the 2017 improved draft and the present T2T assembly
ICAR's district-level farm science centres through which improved production technologies are demonstrated and disseminated to farmers
Pigeonpea is a major source of dietary protein in India, which is why a genomic resource for it is framed as a food and nutritional security asset rather than only a scientific one
A complete reference genome is a precondition for precise genome-editing work, since edits must be targeted against a known and gap-free sequence
The Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses exists because India has historically imported pulses; faster varietal development is one lever for closing that gap
The release notes the assembly will support pangenome work — comparing many varieties against a complete reference to capture diversity that a single genome cannot
GS Paper 3 > Science and Technology > Biotechnology; Agriculture and Food Security
General Awareness > Science and Technology Current Affairs
General Awareness > Science and Technology
With reference to agriculture in India, how can the technique of 'genome sequencing' be used in the immediate future? 1. Genome sequencing can be used to identify genetic markers for disease resistance and drought tolerance in various crop plants. 2. This technique helps in reducing the time required to develop new varieties of crop plants. 3. It can be used to decipher host-pathogen relationships in crops. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 1, 2 and 3
Genome sequencing milestones and pulse self-sufficiency both recur in Prelims science and agriculture questions
A gap-free assembly running unbroken from one chromosome end to the other, including repetitive centromere and telomere regions
A continuous stretch of DNA sequence assembled from overlapping sequencing reads
The constricted region at the middle of a chromosome, historically hard to sequence because of its repetitive DNA
The repetitive protective cap at each end of a chromosome — two per chromosome, hence 22 for pigeonpea's 11 chromosomes
Identifying which parts of an assembled genome are genes and what they code for; here 36,557 genes producing 48,008 mRNAs
The combined genetic content of many individuals of a species, capturing variation a single reference genome misses