Possible strategies for the establishment of VIGS protocol in chickpea

Abstract

Chickpea is the second largest legume in the world. The worldwide production of chickpea is far below its potential because of the factors like nitrogen deficiency, low nutrient absorption, flower or seed abortion and its vulnerability to the abiotic and biotic stresses. Consequently, it is important to understand the key molecular factors involved in stress tolerance, growth, flowering and seed development for the genetic improvement of the existing varieties. Currently the whole genome sequencing data and transcriptome information are widely facilitating functional genomic studies in chickpea. Further, marker based trait association mapping information is available for assistance in breeding program. However, information about exact function of genes is still lacking because of the absence of genetic mutants and difficult genetic transformation in this crop. Hence, the current scenario demands the establishment of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technique in chickpea. VIGS would serve as an important tool for the functional characterization of large number of genes. Despite attempts by several research teams, the VIGS protocol is not yet available till date, though VIGS has been successfully applied for the gene characterization in other legumes. In this chapter we propose some strategies that can be attempted for development of successful VIGS protocol. We also describe our experience from present and past research projects aimed to study VIGS in chickpea.