J.
curcas is native to Mexico and Central
America, but is cultivated in many
other Latin American, Asian and
African countries. The seeds contain
up to 40% semi drying oil. J. curcas
oil is relatively simple to convert
to biodiesel by chemical or biological
transesterification. Jatropha biodiesel
is non-toxic, ecofriendly and economical
due to its low production cost.
Since Jatropha can sustain harsh
environments, adapt well to semi-arid
marginal, and wastelands, it could
be easily cultivated by low income
farmers. In India, to reduce dependence
on crude oil, and to achieve energy
independence, Jatropha and Pongamia
have been promoted under the National
Biodiesel Mission.
Towards
maximizing the economic benefits
offered from this plant and
to increase the sustainability
of commercial scale plantations,
traits such as oil yielding
potential, ability to grow
in saline land and adaptability
to drought conditions can
be potentially engineered
by rational metabolic engineering
strategies. Generation of
primary genome information
of the Jatropha genome will
provide information on factors
controlling oil synthesis,
abiotic stress tolerance and
low-curcin variants. Research
from such perspective often
also provide a leadership
advantage.
Reliance Life Sciences initiated
fundamental research to understand
molecular aspects of abiotic
stress tolerance in Jatropha.
In this direction, and to
provide a foundation for future
research on the crop (such
as gene discovery, functional
genomics and marker development)
we are happy to present a
dedicated, searchable EST
database of 1,240 transcripts
generated from root cDNA library.
This effort is a small beginning
in getting to know this species.
The database will be continuously
updated with new ESTs from
different parts of the Jatropha
plant. |
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