From Stress Biology to Market Strategy: A Bioinformatics-Based Study of Biotic and Abiotic Factors Influencing Castor (Arandi) Cultivation in Arid Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

ABSTRACT

Background: Castor (Arandi) is an economically important oilseed crop with strong relevance to arid and semi-arid agriculture, particularly in western Rajasthan where climatic stress defines farming realities. The Jaisalmer district represents one of the harshest agro-ecological zones in India, characterized by extreme temperatures, erratic rainfall, salinity, and nutrient-poor soils. Understanding stress interactions is essential not only for crop resilience but also for strengthening the agricultural value chain and market outcomes for local communities. Materials and Methods: This study applies a Python-NGS pipeline to investigate genomic variation and stress-responsive gene expression in castor (Ricinus communis L.), a drought-tolerant oilseed crop of major industrial importance. Using publicly available RNA sequencing data (SRR23528831) from the NCBI database, a reproducible workflow was implemented to perform variant detection, transcript alignment, and differential gene expression analysis. Results: Variant analysis revealed polymorphic regions associated with regulatory and coding sequences linked to abiotic stress pathways. Differential expression profiling identified strong activation of genes involved in heat shock response, oxidative stress regulation, and osmotic balance. Gene Ontology enrichment further confirmed overrepresentation of pathways related to drought tolerance, protein stabilization, and abscisic acid signaling. Conclusion: These findings highlight a coordinated molecular defense system that enables castor to maintain cellular stability under extreme environmental pressure. Beyond biological interpretation, the study demonstrates how computational pipelines can inform agricultural decision-making. This approach supports the broader goal of climate-smart agriculture, where bioinformatics tools guide both scientific innovation and practical farming strategies.

KEYWORDS

• Castor (Arandi)
• Biotic and Abiotic Stress
• Bioinformatics
• Arid Agriculture
• Crop
• Management
• Agricultural Marketing

Showing references and in-text citations exactly as published.

• DOI10.5530/ajbls.20260120Copy

RELATED ARTICLES

Matched on section and article type within this issue of AJBLS.

• Article · VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1AMR Curator-An Interactive Platform for Analysing AMR Literature Using NLPUmesh Rani, Naval Singh, Deepshikha Kaushik · pp. 143–149Original ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1Benzotriazole as Privileged Scaffold: A Molecular Docking Approach toward Breast Cancer Drug DiscoveryPornima Ramdas Tambe, Rohit Jaysing Bhor, Mahesh Hari Kolhe, Radhika Bansi Varade, Shaikh Tarnnum Bhaiya, Akanksha Sunil Tambe · pp. 159–172Original ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1In silico Design and Molecular Docking Evaluation of Phenothiazine Derivatives as Selective Celecoxib Bound to S121P Murine COX-2 Inhibitors for Targeted Therapy of Inflammatory Bowel DiseaseMayuri Girish Dharam, Rohit Jaysing Bhor, Mahesh Hari Kolhe, Mayuri Rajesh Bhoknal, Pratibha Shankar Jadhav · pp. 173–192Original ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1Selective Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Streptomyces sp from Dye Discharged Site and its Enzyme Screening in Prospective to Azo Dye DegradationPavitra Rengaraj, Raja Arunprasath, Uma Devi Pongiya · pp. 252–257Original ArticleSame type: Article