Thanks, Gary. Good point to raise about the differences between observation of crop responses in a controlled environment and in the field, and about the inherent difficulties in measuring the latter for many varieties across many settings. I wonder if labs could be designed to better imitate natural conditions and typical fluctuations in factors like wind. But then, it might get so expensive that it makes more sense to return to the field? Otherwise, could research packs be developed for farmers to track particular traits in varieties they grow, as a part of research projects? BTW, I came across mention of another publication on genomics and millets - a special issue of Crop Design entitled "Phenomics and Genomics of Millets and Underutilized Crops" (Last update 6 June 2025) at https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/10WD7G4XDGK . One of the guest editors is Dr. Vetriventhan Mani of ICRISAT, who of course participated in one of our webinars with Prof. Dipak Santra: "Genetics & breeding of proso millet: Status & prospects." NAMA Millets Webinar, 20 Feb. 2025 https://youtu.be/X9NeJHFxCOQ?si=NhA-eLS2m5l6iHQA Don DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Thu, Oct 15, 2026 at 1:02 PM Gary Wietgrefe <gww374@gmail.com> wrote:
Don, excellent article addressing multiple millets. Whether the lead photo is AI generated or not, it is unfortunate what appears to be qualified millet researchers did not recognize the difference between a wheat and millet photo although wheat is mentioned in the first sentence. Proof millets need more accessible photos.
Regarding the study, it states: *"The most consequential technical shift may be the move from single reference genomes to graph-based pan-genomes."* However, genetic analysis does not always tell millets' full agronomic story on water absorption and transpiration which affects nutrient absorption and translocation to seeds. For example, a recent (June 2026) study on millet transpiration addresses differences between customary greenhouse evaluations and actual field observations which are much more difficult to conduct especially on the vast number of millets and thousands of lines.
*Greenhouse vs. field differences*: Quote: "Working on this trait in controlled or growth chamber conditions with constant light, the evaporative demand was typically described by the vapor pressure deficit (VPD), which integrates temperature and relative humidity. Although controlled-environment experiments provide precise measurements, they fail to capture field-relevant dynamics, where additional factors of the evaporative demand such as light and wind fluctuate throughout the day and influence plant transpiration [10 <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2643651526000683#bib10> ,20 <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2643651526000683#bib22>*]. Light intensity outdoors is also much higher than in growth chambers" *(Laura Gregoire, et al., Transpiration responds linearly to Penman-Monteith reference evapotranspiration and varies genetically, both in individual plants and canopies, in large sorghum and pearl millet panels, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2643651526000683.)
Don, your efforts to present increased millets research on various topics is commendable. Keep it up. Obviously, many researchers are realizing the benefits of millets--meaning more research is forthcoming....Gary Wietgrefe
On Thu, Oct 15, 2026 at 9:04 AM Don Osborn via Collab < collab@lists.millets2023.space> wrote:
A recent review article examines advances and directions of research on genomics of millets.
First, here's a very readable overview of the article. (Unfortunately, the lead image appears to be an AI-generated view of wheat in a field.)
"Millets Get a Genomic Makeover: From Orphan Crops to Climate-Smart Supergrains," BioEngineer.org, October 11, 2026
https://bioengineer.org/millets-get-a-genomic-makeover-from-orphan-crops-to-...
And here's the citation and abstract of the article itself:
Ceasar, S. A., Rathna, A. S., & Abdi, G. (2026). "Integrative multi-omics and biotechnology for climate resilience and micronutrient biofortification in millets: from trait discovery to precision crop improvement." Current Research in Biotechnology, Article 100426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2026.100426
ABSTRACT: "Millets are small-seeded cereals of the family Poaceae that tolerate drought, heat and poor soils. Their grains are rich in iron, zinc, calcium and phenolic antioxidants. Finger millet is exceptionally rich in calcium, and pearl millet is a good source of iron and zinc. These properties make millet crops useful for tackling climate change and micronutrient malnutrition. This review brings together recent progress in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, ionomics, epigenomics, phenomics and genome editing in these crops. Foxtail millet, pearl millet and finger millet now have chromosome-scale reference genomes and multi-omics databases, and pan-genome assemblies are available for foxtail millet, pearl millet and proso millet. In these three species, the stress-signaling network is built around abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, several transcription factor families, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging and osmolyte metabolism. Genetic transformation was long the main bottleneck, but this is now changing. Foxtail millet supports a set of validated genome edits, including base editing and edits that improve grain amino acid quality. High-throughput and simplified protocols are extending transformation to pearl millet and finger millet and genome editing to pearl millet. Research on proso millet, little millet, kodo millet and barnyard millet lags behind. One major gap remains. The molecular machinery that controls micronutrient loading, including metal transporters, chelators and storage proteins, is still poorly understood. We suggest three priorities: biofortification based on mechanism; a transformation and editing platform that works across millet species; and precision breeding that links genomic prediction with digital phenomics and artificial intelligence."
Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance
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