Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) as a model system to study and improve the nutrient transport in cereals

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is a C4 model cereal with a small and fully annotated genome sequence. The genome sequence of the foxtail millet has been utilized for comparative functional genomics studies of other C4 cereals and millets. Plants require adequate amounts of essential nutrients for normal growth and yield. Nutrient deficiency causes severe yield losses in cereal crops worldwide. Improving the nutrient-use efficiency of cereals has been a major thrust area of research for increasing yields, especially under low nutrient soils. Several function genomic studies have been conducted with model plants Arabidopsis and rice to elucidate the nutrient transport process. Genomic resources of foxtail millet are helpful in understanding and improving nutrient transport in other cereals and millets. A few comparative genomics studies have already been reported on utilizing the foxtail millet genome sequence for other cereals to identify and validate the genes. Having a simple and efficient transformation system of foxtail millet might help characterize various nutrient transporters in foxtail millet. In this review, various works reported on the nutrient transporters in foxtail millet have been summarized. Further, this review draws insights on the possible utilization of foxtail millet genomic resources to study and improve nutrient transport in other cereals.

Automated summary

Foxtail millet, a fully annotated C4 model cereal, has genomic resources that are helpful in understanding and improving nutrient transport in other cereals.