pankaj's blog

The genome of cyclosporine (synonym: cyclosporin) drug producing fungus Tolypocladium inflatum was published recently by Bushley et al. (2013), in the journal PLOS Genetics. The genome sequencing and its annotation discovered a cyclosporin biosynthesis associated metabolite gene cluster. "Cyclosporin is a powerful immunosupressant with a specific action on T-lymphocyte cells.

Nearly half of the world's population acquires their staple calories from rice. While the Green revolution has witnessed substantial increases in the production, availability and global per capita consumption of rice, FAO estimates 870 million of the world population to be still hungry. To increase production and especially to alleviate effect of climate change on rice production it is imperative that rice breeding moves beyond the Green Revolution and incorporate modern genomics based methods.