BookMalali Gowda, Ambardar Sheetal, Chittaranjan Kole, editors.
Summary: This book describes the sequencing efforts for Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), one of the most versatile tropical evergreen tree species. The neem tree is a source of various natural products, including the potent biopesticide azadirachtin and limonoids, which have a broad spectrum of activity against insect pests and microbial pathogens. To identify genes and pathways in neem, three neem genomes and several transcriptomes are studied using next-generation sequencing technologies. Neem has been extensively used in Ayurveda, Unani and homoeopathic medicine and is often referred to as the 'village pharmacy by natives due to its wealth of medicinal properties. Besides the description of the genome, this book discusses the neem microbiome and its role in the production of neem metabolites like salanin, nimbin and exopy-azadirachtin under in vitro conditions. It also highlights cell and tissue culture using various neem explants including the leaf, root, shoot, cambium, etc.
Contents:
Economic/Academic importance
Botanical descriptions and distribution
Traditional practices and knowledge of neem
Biochemistry, medicinal properties and molecular biology of neem bioactives
Quantification of secondary metabolites of neem
Utilization of neem and neem products in agriculture
Requirement of whole-genome sequencing
Strategies & tools for sequencing
Genome Assembly
Repetitive sequences
Gene annotation
Synteny with allied & model genomes
Comparison of gene families
Impact on neem tree improvement breeding
Neem tissue culture
Neem microbiome
Future prospects.