Breeding for cuticle-associated traits in crop species: traits, targets, and strategies

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (19) ◽  
pp. 5369-5387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann Petit ◽  
Cécile Bres ◽  
Jean-Philippe Mauxion ◽  
Bénédicte Bakan ◽  
Christophe Rothan
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Water Loss ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Crop Breeding ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Horticultural Crops ◽  
Cuticle Formation

Abstract Improving crop productivity and quality while promoting sustainable agriculture have become major goals in plant breeding. The cuticle is a natural film covering the aerial organs of plants and consists of lipid polyesters covered and embedded with wax. The cuticle protects plants against water loss and pathogens and affects traits with strong impacts on crop quality such as, for horticultural crops, fruit brightness, cracking, russeting, netting, and shelf life. Here we provide an overview of the most important cuticle-associated traits that can be targeted for crop improvement. To date, most studies on cuticle-associated traits aimed at crop breeding have been done on fleshy fruits. Less information is available for staple crops such as rice, wheat or maize. Here we present new insights into cuticle formation and properties resulting from the study of genetic resources available for the various crop species. Our review also covers the current strategies and tools aimed at exploiting available natural and artificially induced genetic diversity and the technologies used to transfer the beneficial alleles affecting cuticle-associated traits to commercial varieties.

Defining and identifying crop landraces

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Carolina Camacho Villa ◽  
Nigel Maxted ◽  
Maria Scholten ◽  
Brian Ford-Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Traditional Farming ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
High Genetic Diversity ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
Landrace Diversity ◽  
Cultivated Plant ◽  
Historical Origin

Awareness of the need for biodiversity conservation is now universally accepted, but most often recent conservation activities have focused on wild species. Crop species and the diversity between and within them has significant socioeconomic as well as heritage value. The bulk of genetic diversity in domesticated species is located in traditional varieties maintained by traditional farming systems. These traditional varieties, commonly referred to as landraces, are severely threatened by genetic extinction primarily due to their replacement by modern genetically uniform varieties. The conservation of landrace diversity has been hindered in part by the lack of an accepted definition to define the entity universally recognized as landraces. Without a definition it would be impossible to prepare an inventory and without an inventory changes in landrace constituency could not be recognized over time. Therefore, based on a literature review, workshop discussion and interviews with key informants, common characteristics of landraces were identified, such as: historical origin, high genetic diversity, local genetic adaptation, recognizable identity, lack of formal genetic improvement, and whether associated with traditional farming systems. However, although these characteristics are commonly present they are not always all present for any individual landrace; several crop-specific exceptions were noted relating to crop propagation method (sexual or asexual), breeding system (self-fertilized or cross-fertilized species), length of formal crop improvement, seed management (selection or random propagation) and use. This paper discusses the characteristics that generally constitute a landrace, reviews the exceptions to these characteristics and provides a working definition of a landrace. The working definition proposed is as follows: ‘a landrace is a dynamic population(s) of a cultivated plant that has historical origin, distinct identity and lacks formal crop improvement, as well as often being genetically diverse, locally adapted and associated with traditional farming systems’.

scholarly journals Epigenome and Epitranscriptome: Potential Resources for Crop Improvement

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (23) ◽  
pp. 12912
Author(s):  
Quancan Hou ◽  
Xiangyuan Wan
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Environmental Stress ◽  
Plant Development ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Food Demand ◽  
Crop Breeding ◽  
Conventional Breeding

Crop breeding faces the challenge of increasing food demand, especially under climatic changes. Conventional breeding has relied on genetic diversity by combining alleles to obtain desired traits. In recent years, research on epigenetics and epitranscriptomics has shown that epigenetic and epitranscriptomic diversity provides additional sources for crop breeding and harnessing epigenetic and epitranscriptomic regulation through biotechnologies has great potential for crop improvement. Here, we review epigenome and epitranscriptome variations during plant development and in response to environmental stress as well as the available sources for epiallele formation. We also discuss the possible strategies for applying epialleles and epitranscriptome engineering in crop breeding.

scholarly journals Genetic Resources and Vulnerabilities of Major Cucurbit Crops

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1222
Author(s):  
Rebecca Grumet ◽  
James D. McCreight ◽  
Cecilia McGregor ◽  
Yiqun Weng ◽  
Michael Mazourek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Citrullus Lanatus ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Historical Collections ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Cucurbitaceae Family

The Cucurbitaceae family provides numerous important crops including watermelons (Citrullus lanatus), melons (Cucumis melo), cucumbers (Cucumis sativus), and pumpkins and squashes (Cucurbita spp.). Centers of domestication in Africa, Asia, and the Americas were followed by distribution throughout the world and the evolution of secondary centers of diversity. Each of these crops is challenged by multiple fungal, oomycete, bacterial, and viral diseases and insects that vector disease and cause feeding damage. Cultivated varieties are constrained by market demands, the necessity for climatic adaptations, domestication bottlenecks, and in most cases, limited capacity for interspecific hybridization, creating narrow genetic bases for crop improvement. This analysis of crop vulnerabilities examines the four major cucurbit crops, their uses, challenges, and genetic resources. ex situ germplasm banks, the primary strategy to preserve genetic diversity, have been extensively utilized by cucurbit breeders, especially for resistances to biotic and abiotic stresses. Recent genomic efforts have documented genetic diversity, population structure, and genetic relationships among accessions within collections. Collection size and accessibility are impacted by historical collections, current ability to collect, and ability to store and maintain collections. The biology of cucurbits, with insect-pollinated, outcrossing plants, and large, spreading vines, pose additional challenges for regeneration and maintenance. Our ability to address ongoing and future cucurbit crop vulnerabilities will require a combination of investment, agricultural, and conservation policies, and technological advances to facilitate collection, preservation, and access to critical Cucurbitaceae diversity.

scholarly journals A global barley panel revealing genomic signatures of breeding in modern cultivars

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Beate Hill ◽  
Tefera Tolera Angessa ◽  
Xiao-Qi Zhang ◽  
Kefei Chen ◽  
Gaofeng Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Genetic Erosion ◽  
Germplasm Collection ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe future of plant cultivar improvement lies in the evaluation of genetic resources from currently available germplasm. Recent efforts in plant breeding have been aimed at developing new and improved varieties from poorly adapted crops to suit local environments. However, the impact of these breeding efforts is poorly understood. Here, we assess the contributions of both historical and recent breeding efforts to local adaptation and crop improvement in a global barley panel by analysing the distribution of genetic variants with respect to geographic region or historical breeding category. By tracing the impact breeding had on the genetic diversity of barley released in Australia, where the history of barley production is relatively young, we identify 69 candidate regions within 922 genes that were under selection pressure. We also show that modern Australian barley varieties exhibit 12% higher genetic diversity than historical cultivars. Finally, field-trialling and phenotyping for agriculturally relevant traits across a diverse range of Australian environments suggests that genomic regions under strong breeding selection and their candidate genes are closely associated with key agronomic traits. In conclusion, our combined dataset and germplasm collection provide a rich source of genetic diversity that can be applied to understanding and improving environmental adaptation and enhanced yields.Author summaryToday’s gene pool of crop genetic diversity has been shaped during domestication and more recently by breeding. Genetic diversity is vital for crop species to be able to adapt to changing environments. There is concern that recent breeding efforts have eroded the genetic diversity of many domesticated crops including barley. The present study assembled a global panel of barley genotypes with a focus on historical and modern Australian varieties.Genome-wide data was used to detect genes that are thought to have been under selection during crop breeding in Australian barley. The results demonstrate that despite being more extensively bred, modern Australian barley varieties exhibit higher genetic diversity than historical cultivars, countering the common perception that intensive breeding leads to genetic erosion of adaptive diversity in modern cultivars. In addition, some loci (particularly those related to phenology) were subject to selection during the introduction of other barley varieties to Australia – these genes might continue to be important targets in breeding efforts in the face of changing climatic conditions.

scholarly journals Engineering photosynthesis: progress and perspectives

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Orr ◽  
Auderlan M. Pereira ◽  
Paula da Fonseca Pereira ◽  
Ítalo A. Pereira-Lima ◽  
Agustin Zsögön ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Plant Metabolism ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Crop Breeding ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Per Se

Photosynthesis is the basis of primary productivity on the planet. Crop breeding has sustained steady improvements in yield to keep pace with population growth increases. Yet these advances have not resulted from improving the photosynthetic processper sebut rather of altering the way carbon is partitioned within the plant. Mounting evidence suggests that the rate at which crop yields can be boosted by traditional plant breeding approaches is wavering, and they may reach a “yield ceiling” in the foreseeable future. Further increases in yield will likely depend on the targeted manipulation of plant metabolism. Improving photosynthesis poses one such route, with simulations indicating it could have a significant transformative influence on enhancing crop productivity. Here, we summarize recent advances of alternative approaches for the manipulation and enhancement of photosynthesis and their possible application for crop improvement.

scholarly journals Role of honeybees in horticultural crop productivity enhancement

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (AAEBSSD) ◽  
pp. 348-355
Author(s):  
Udit Joshi ◽  
Kiran Kothiyal ◽  
Yogesh Kumar ◽  
Rajendra Bhatt
Keyword(s):  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Living Organism ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Reproductive Rate ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Horticultural Crops ◽  
Bee Colony ◽  
Food And Nutritional Security ◽  
And Function

Pollination is vital to conserve the planet’s vast wealth of biodiversity.The pollinator is a living organism transporting pollen grains from the male part to the flower’s fertilizing stigma.Fruit and seed set mainly in cross-pollinated crops dependon honeybees since their bodily parts have been engineered to capture the most pollen grains possible andhavea rapid reproductive rate. Insects are responsible for about 80% of all pollination activity, with bees accounting for over 80% of all insect pollination.Every day, a given bee colony may pollinate about 300 million flowers.Honey bees are considered the finest pollinators among all that contribute to pollination and generate honey and other hive products that add to farm income. The benefits of growing crops yield much more than the income generated by selling honey and other products.Many studies also demonstrate that pesticide application became a significant issue in most crops and antagonistically influence the honey bee population. Hence, great care must be taken to safeguard insect pollinators, particularly honey bees, against pesticide poisoning.The importance of pollinator species richness in their natural environment and function in crop improvement must be recognized. This review provides a broad overview of pollination difficulties that farmers face and an explanation of the importance of pollination in boosting food and nutritional security by improving the productivity of horticultural crops.

scholarly journals Frequent germplasm exchanges drive the high genetic diversity of Chinese-cultivated common apricot germplasm

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuping Zhang ◽  
Diyang Zhang ◽  
Kang Yu ◽  
Jingjing Ji ◽  
Ning Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Crop Breeding ◽  
High Quality ◽  
High Genetic Diversity ◽  
Breeding Programs ◽  
Germplasm Diversity ◽  
High Level ◽  
Modern Breeding ◽  
Chromosome Level

AbstractThe genetic diversity of germplasm is critical for exploring genetic and phenotypic resources and has important implications for crop-breeding sustainability and improvement. However, little is known about the factors that shape and maintain genetic diversity. Here, we assembled a high-quality chromosome-level reference of the Chinese common apricot ‘Yinxiangbai’, and we resequenced 180 apricot accessions that cover four major ecogeographical groups in China and other accessions from occidental countries. We concluded that Chinese-cultivated common apricot germplasms possessed much higher genetic diversity than those cultivated in Western countries. We also detected seven migration events among different apricot groups, where 27% of the genome was identified as being introgressed. Remarkably, we demonstrated that these introgressed regions drove the current high level of germplasm diversity in Chinese-cultivated common apricots by introducing different genes related to distinct phenotypes from different cultivated groups. Our results highlight the consideration that introgressed regions may provide an important reservoir of genetic resources that can be used to sustain modern breeding programs.

Methodology to establish a composite collection: case study in lentil

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie J Furman
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Cluster Analyses

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is participating in a large-scale programme, Subprogram 1 of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Generation Challenge Program, that aims to explore the genetic diversity of the global germplasm collections held by the CGIAR research centres. This project will identify a ‘composite collection’ of germplasm for individual crops, representing the range of diversity of each crop species and its wild relatives, and characterize each composite set using anonymous molecular markers, mainly simple sequence repeats (SSRs). The overall goal of this project is to study diversity across given genera and identify genes for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses that can be used in crop improvement programmes. ICARDA was responsible for creating the composite collection for lentil. ICARDA has the global mandate for lentil and houses the largest global collection of this crop with 10,509 accessions. From this collection, a global composite collection of 1000 lentil accessions was established with the aim to represent genetic diversity and the agro-climatological range of lentil. Accessions for the composite collection were compiled from landraces, wild relatives, and elite germplasm and cultivars. The methodology presented here combined classical hierarchical cluster analyses using agronomic traits and two-step cluster analyses using agro-climatological data linked to the geographical coordinates of the accessions' collection sites. Genotyping for 30 SSR loci will be carried out for all 1000 accessions. Plants grown for DNA analysis will be harvested and progeny will be evaluated under field conditions at ICARDA.

scholarly journals Metabolomics Intervention Towards Better Understanding of Plant Traits

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinay Sharma ◽  
Prateek Gupta ◽  
Kagolla Priscilla ◽  
SharanKumar SharanKumar ◽  
Bhagyashree Hangargi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Pathways ◽  
Reference Genome ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Causal Gene ◽  
Crop Breeding ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
Crop Development ◽  
New Gene

The majority of the most economically important plant and crop species are enriched with the availability of high-quality reference genome sequences forming the basis of gene discovery which control the important biochemical pathways. The transcriptomics and proteomics resources have also been made available for many of these plant species that intensify the understanding at expression levels. However, still we lack integrated studies spanning genomics–transcriptomics–proteomics, connected to metabolomics, the most complicated phase in phenotype expression. Nevertheless, for the past few decades, emphasis has been more on metabolome which plays a crucial role in defining the phenotype (trait) during crop improvement. The emergence of modern high throughput metabolome analyzing platforms have accelerated the discovery of a wide variety of biochemical types of metabolites and new pathways, also helped in improving the understanding of known existing pathways. Pinpointing the causal gene(s) and elucidation of metabolic pathways are very important for development of improved lines with high precision in crop breeding. Along with other -omics sciences, metabolomics studies have helped in characterization and annotation of a new gene(s) function. Hereby, we summarize several areas in the field of crop development where metabolomics studies have made its remarkable impact. We also assess the recent research on metabolomics, together with other omics, contributing toward genetic engineering to target traits and key pathway(s).

scholarly journals Combining ability and heterosis in plant improvement

2021 ◽  
pp. 108-117
Author(s):  
Begna Temesgen
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Combining Ability ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Hybrid Vigor ◽  
Hybrid Breeding ◽  
F1 Hybrids ◽  
Gene Pools ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Heterotic Groups

Information on combining ability and heterosis of parents and crossings is crucial in breeding efforts. Genetic variety is crucial to the effectiveness of yield improvement efforts because it helps to broaden gene pools in any given crop population. The genotype's ability to pass the intended character to the offspring is referred to as combining ability. As a result, information on combining ability is required to determine the crossing pairs in the production of hybrid varieties. Heterosis is the expression of an F1 hybrid's dominance over its parents in a given feature, as measured not by the trait's absolute value, but by its practical use. To put it another way, heterosis is defined as an increase in the character value of F1 hybrids when compared to the average value of both parents. A plant breeder's ultimate goal is to achieve desirable heterosis (hybrid vigor). In a variety of crop species, heterosis has been widely employed to boost output and extend the adaptability of hybrid types. A crucial requirement for discovering crosses with significant levels of exploitable heterosis is knowledge of the quantity of heterosis in different cross combinations. Any crop improvement program's success is contingent on the presence of a significant level of genetic diversity and heritability. The lack of a broad genetic foundation is the most significant constraint to crop improvement and a major bottleneck in breeding operations. Heterosis is a critical factor in hybrid generation, particularly for traits driven by non-additive gene activity. To get the most out of heterosis for hybrid cultivar production, germplasm must be divided into distinct heterotic groups. Similarly, knowledge on genetic diversity is critical for hybrid breeding and population improvement initiatives because it allows them to analyze genetic diversity, characterize germplasm, and categorize it into different heterotic groupings. In general, general combining ability is used to detect a line's average performance in a hybrid combination, whereas specific combining ability is used to find circumstances where definite combinations perform better or worse than expected based on the mean performance of the lines involved.

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