AUTHOR=Aggarwal Pooja Rani , Pramitha Lydia , Choudhary Pooja , Singh Roshan Kumar , Shukla Pooja , Prasad Manoj , Muthamilarasan Mehanathan 

TITLE=Multi-omics intervention in Setaria to dissect climate-resilient traits: Progress and prospects

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.892736

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.892736

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Millets constitute a significant proportion of underutilized grasses and are well known for their climate resilience as well as excellent nutritional profiles. Among millets, foxtail millet (<italic>Setaria italica</italic>) and its wild relative green foxtail (<italic>S. viridis</italic>) are collectively regarded as models for studying broad-spectrum traits, including abiotic stress tolerance, C<sub>4</sub> photosynthesis, biofuel, and nutritional traits. Since the genome sequence release, the crop has seen an exponential increase in omics studies to dissect agronomic, nutritional, biofuel, and climate-resilience traits. These studies have provided first-hand information on the structure, organization, evolution, and expression of several genes; however, knowledge of the precise roles of such genes and their products remains elusive. Several open-access databases have also been instituted to enable advanced scientific research on these important crops. In this context, the current review enumerates the contemporary trend of research on understanding the climate resilience and other essential traits in <italic>Setaria</italic>, the knowledge gap, and how the information could be translated for the crop improvement of related millets, biofuel crops, and cereals. Also, the review provides a roadmap for studying other underutilized crop species using <italic>Setaria</italic> as a model.</p>