Syamaladevi Divya P, Meena S S, Nagar R P
Western Regional Research Station, Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan, 304501, India.
Indian Institute of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India.
Biotechnol Lett. 2016 Mar;38(3):369-76. doi: 10.1007/s10529-015-2004-0. Epub 2015 Nov 24.
The genus Cenchrus comprises around 25 species of 'bristle clade' grasses. Cenchrus ciliaris (buffel grass) is a hardy, perennial range grass that survives in poor sandy soils and limiting soil moisture conditions and, due to the very same reasons, this grass is one of the most prevalent fodder grasses of the arid and semi-arid regions. Most of the germplasms of Cenchrus produce seeds asexually through the process of apomeiosis. Therefore, the lack of sufficient sexual lines has hindered the crop improvement efforts in Cenchrus being confined to simple selection methods. Many attempts have been initiated in buffel grass to investigate the various molecular aspects such as genomic signatures of different species and genotypes, molecular basis of abiotic stress tolerance and reproductive performance. Even though it is an important fodder crop, molecular investigations in Cenchrus lack focus and the molecular information available on this grass is scanty. Cenchrus is a very good gene source for abiotic stress tolerance and apomixis studies. Biotechnological interventions in Cenchrus can help in crop improvement in Cenchrus as well as other crops through transgenic technology or marker assisted selection. To date no consolidated review on biotechnological interventions in Cenchrus grass has been published. Therefore we provide a thorough and in depth review on molecular research in Cenchrus focusing on molecular signatures of evolution, tolerance to abiotic stress and apomictic reproductive mechanism.
蒺藜草属包含约25种“刚毛类”禾本科植物。蒺藜草（水牛草）是一种耐寒的多年生牧草，能在贫瘠的沙质土壤和有限的土壤湿度条件下存活，正因如此，这种草是干旱和半干旱地区最常见的饲料草之一。蒺藜草的大多数种质通过无融合生殖过程进行无性繁殖。因此，缺乏足够的有性系阻碍了蒺藜草的作物改良工作，使其局限于简单的选择方法。人们已经在水牛草上开展了许多尝试，以研究各种分子层面的问题，如不同物种和基因型的基因组特征、非生物胁迫耐受性的分子基础以及生殖性能。尽管它是一种重要的饲料作物，但蒺藜草的分子研究缺乏重点，关于这种草的分子信息也很匮乏。蒺藜草是研究非生物胁迫耐受性和无融合生殖的良好基因来源。对蒺藜草进行生物技术干预可以通过转基因技术或标记辅助选择，帮助改良蒺藜草以及其他作物。迄今为止，尚未发表关于蒺藜草生物技术干预的综合综述。因此，我们对蒺藜草的分子研究进行了全面而深入的综述，重点关注进化的分子特征、对非生物胁迫的耐受性以及无融合生殖机制。
