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IndiAgri Bureau
New Delhi: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed India's first fully annotated telomere-to-telomere (T2T) reference genome of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan), a milestone expected to accelerate the development of high-yielding, climate-resilient and nutritionally superior pigeonpea varieties.
The newly developed genome, based on the popular pigeonpea variety 'Asha', has also been approved as the global reference genome for the crop. Commonly known as Arhar or Tur, pigeonpea is one of India's most important pulse crops and a key source of dietary protein, playing a crucial role in the country's food and nutritional security.
The achievement marks another milestone for ICAR-National Institute for Plant Biotechnology (ICAR-NIPB), New Delhi, which had created the world's first draft genome of a pulse crop in 2011. That project also made pigeonpea the first crop whose genome was sequenced entirely in India. After publishing an improved version in 2017, scientists have now completed the full telomere-to-telomere genome sequence, providing the most comprehensive genetic blueprint of the crop to date.
According to ICAR, the genome contains 752.65 million DNA base pairs assembled into 92 contigs, representing all 11 chromosomes of pigeonpea. The reference genome includes all 11 centromeres and 22 telomeres, confirming chromosome-level completeness. Scientists also identified 36,557 genes that produce 48,008 messenger RNA (mRNA) sequences, while RNA mapping recorded more than 99.9 per cent alignment, indicating the high accuracy of the genome assembly.
The genome assembly, designated NIPB_CcT2T_4, has been deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database and was officially released on April 20, 2026.
Researchers believe the complete reference genome will serve as a valuable resource for advanced genetic studies, gene discovery and pangenome analysis. It is expected to support molecular breeding and genome-editing technologies, enabling scientists to develop improved pigeonpea varieties with better yield potential, enhanced nutritional quality and greater resilience to climate stress.
ICAR said the breakthrough will strengthen India's pulse improvement programme by benefiting researchers, plant breeders and farmers, while contributing to higher productivity, improved farm incomes and long-term food and nutritional security.
The development also complements the Government of India's Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses (2025-26 to 2030-31), which aims to achieve self-sufficiency in pulse production, reduce import dependence and increase national pulse output to around 35 million tonnes by 2030-31 through improved seed systems, technology adoption, area expansion, assured procurement and better post-harvest infrastructure.
