Cenchrus americanus cultivar:P310-17 and 7042S Transcriptome or Gene expression

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is an important cereal for food security in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Indian sub-continent . The major loss in pearl millet productivity is due to the biotic stress, downy mildew caused by fungal pathogen, Sclerospora graminicola (Sacc.). Identification of genes associated with downy mildew resistance in pearl millet constitutes an important step for improvement and appropriate intervention strategies. Two days old grown seedlings of downy mildew resistant (P310-17) and susceptible (7042S) genotypes were inoculated with and without downy mildew (4x104 zoospores/ml) inoculum. Seedlings were harvested 36 hours post inoculation, cDNA libraries were prepared and sequenced on 454 Roche.