BSc-MSc (Integrated)

The project entitled “In silico analysis of carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in
cassava (Manihot esculenta C.)” was conducted at ICAR-CTCRI, Sreekariyam,
Thiruvananthapuram during 2016-2017. The main objective of the study was to
identify the genes involved in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in cassava,
construction of the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in cassava, regulatory sequence
analysis of carotenoid genes in cassava and visualization of the constructed
carotenoid pathway. The preliminary template data set of carotenoid genes were
obtained from NCBI and Phytozome database. 39 carotenoid genes were identified
from cassava through comparative genomic analysis and BLAST-p search
Functional annotation of carotenoid genes was done using E2P2 tool and
NCBI conserved domain analysis tool. This ensures the function of the carotenoid
genes in cassava. The identified genes were used for the regulatory sequence
analysis. TF prediction analysis shows that about 18 TF associated with identified
carotenoid genes in cassava, CpG island analysis facilitated to understand the
carotenoid gene expression pattern in cassava and miRNA analysis showed six
significant miRNAs targeting carotenoid genes in cassava. Phylogenetic analysis
and chromosomal location analysis revealed the gene duplication events and
conserved genes between cassava and the template plants such as Arabidopsis
thaliana, Solanum lycopersicum, Solanum tuberosum, Ipomea batatas and Populus
trichocarpa. Carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in cassava constructed by integrating
the identified genes and regulatory elements using cell illustrator software. MEP
pathway, core carotenoid pathway and apocarotenoid pathway was interconnected
into a single pathway and subcellular localization analysis data was united with this
novel pathway.Study of the carotenoid biosynthetic genes and pathways in cassava
will provide insight into carotenoid metabolic mechanisms and enrichment of
carotenoids in cassava.