Genotypic Technology in association with National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), Delhi is pleased to announce the launch of Chickpea DNA microarrays. Chickpea is a very important food legume crop. Globally, India has been the pioneer in chickpea supply and is the largest producer and consumer in the world. However, the genomic resources for this species are very limited. Recently, the complete transcriptome of chickpea has been sequenced using next generation sequencing technologies at the National Institute of Plant Genome Research under the "Next Generation Challenge Program on Chickpea Genomics" funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. This research work has already been published in peer reviewed journals by NIPGR team with Dr. Mukesh Jain as lead researcher, DNA Res (2011) 18, 53-63; Plant Physiol (2011)156, 1661-1678. Dr Jain is one of the leading researchers in the field of functional and applied genomics in various crop plants of economic importance.

The availability of transcriptome sequence in public domain has provided the opportunity to develop a "high-throughput resource" for studying the expression of all the chickpea transcripts in different biological contexts. Under a MoU, Genotypic Technology in association with NIPGR designed and tested around half a million probes derived from the chickpea transcriptome sequence. The final array design was validated experimentally with different chickpea tissues.

Genotypic Technology is a pioneer in the field of Genomics and Bioinformatics in India employing cutting edge technology and tools in genomics research. The newly developed microarray slide consists of 8 arrays with about 60,000 annotated probes. These probes could be used further to develop functional molecular markers and in gene copy number studies.

Commenting on this occasion Dr Raja C Mugasimangalam, CEO, Genotypic Technology said "We are very happy to collaborate with NIPGR, the leading Plant Genomics Institute in India for developing the Chickpea microarray. We hope this microarray aids in gene expression studies and genome comparisons and help researchers worldwide in basic and applied research and developing markers for chickpea breeding" Dr Mukesh Jain also reverberated the same sentiment saying "The development of a microarray platform for chickpea represents a milestone, which is expected to accelerate functional and applied genomics research in chickpea worldwide".

Early access promotions and technical support are on offer for researchers who want to make use of this new array for studying chickpea. For details please contact Genotypic Technology at genomics@genotypic.co.in. Telephone number +918040538300 OR +918040538200

About NIPGR
The National Institute of Plant Genome Research (www.nipgr.res.in), established in 1997, is an autonomous institution funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. NIPGR is a premier genomics research institute and has already placed India among the major contributors to plant genomics. The ongoing research in NIPGR will allow India to emerge as one of the institution of national and international importance for material, new knowledge and technologies in the areas of functional, structural, evolutionary and applied genomics of plants, including crop plants.

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