Developmental transcriptome of Little millet (Panicum sumatrense)

Little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth ex Roem. & Schult.) is an essential minor millet of southeast Asia and Africa's temperate and subtropical regions. The plant is stress-tolerant with a short life cycle with a mineral-rich nutritional profile associated with unique health benefits. We report the developmental transcriptome and gene expression atlas of little millet (genotype JK-8) from ten tissues representing different stages of its life cycle, starting from seed germination and vegetative growth to panicle maturation. The developmental transcriptome atlas led to the identification of 342,827 transcripts. The BUSCO analysis and comparison with the transcriptomes of related species confirm that this study presents high-quality, in-depth coverage of the little millet transcriptome. In addition, the eFP browser generated here is a user-friendly interface allowing interactive visualizations of tissue-specific gene expression. Using these data, we identified transcripts, the orthologs of which in Arabidopsis and rice are involved in nutrient acquisition, transport and response pathways. The comparative analysis of the expression levels of these transcripts holds great potential for enhancing the mineral content in crops, particularly zinc and iron, to address the issue of 'hidden hunger' and to attain nutritional security, making it a valuable asset for translational research.