Moringa Functional Genomics: Implications of Long Read Sequencing Technologies

The caloric needs of the global population are solely dependent on only 30 crops including rice, wheat, and maize. It is important to diversify and ensure the global food supply by enhancing the wide adaptation of nutritionally important vegetable crops. Focusing on the underutilized and locally available vegetable crops would meet the need of eradicating malnutrition and food security for the local population and small-hold farmers. With the advent of long-read sequencing technologies, several orphan crops and crops with complex genetic nature are being explored and genome resources are made available for crop improvement. Moringa oliefera is a well-known medicinal and nutritive plant which is getting adequate attention in recent years. Functional analytical tools including genome, transcriptome, metabolome, and proteome were made available for moringa; besides diversity analysis, evolutionary and syntenic studies were also reported. With an objective of exploring the available resources of an important nutritive crop and evaluating the need to enhance the functional studies further, this chapter reviews the application of long-read sequencing and their application in moringa genomics for its wider utilization in pharma industries.