ICAR's T2T Genome of Pigeonpea

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) developed India's first fully annotated Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) reference genome of pigeonpea variety 'Asha'.

Important Facts

• Scientific name: Cajanus cajan
• Variety: Asha
• Recognised as global reference genome according to the source.
• Purpose:
  • Climate-resilient crops
  • Higher yields
  • Better nutrition
  • Pulse self-sufficiency

Genome Data

• 752.65 million DNA base pairs
• 92 contigs
• All 11 chromosomes
• 11 centromeres
• 22 telomeres
• 36,557 genes
• 48,008 mRNA sequences
• More than 99.9% read alignment

Repository

Genome assembly: NIPB_CcT2T_4

Deposited in NCBI and released on 20 April 2026.

Policy Link

Supports Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses (2025–26 to 2030–31).

Target: approximately 35 million tonnes of pulses by 2030–31.

Prelims Concept

T2T genome → aims at chromosome-level completeness, including telomeres and centromeres.