Gene Pyramiding for Sustainable Crop Improvement against Biotic and Abiotic Stresses

Sustainable agricultural production is endangered by several ecological factors such as drought, extreme temperatures, excessive salts, parasitic ailments, and insect pest infestation. These challenging environmental factors may have adverse effects on future agriculture production in many countries. In modern agriculture, conventional crop breeding techniques alone are inadequate for achieving the increasing population’s food demand on a sustainable basis. The advancement of molecular genetics and related technologies are promising tools for the selection of new crop species. Gene pyramiding through marker assisted selection (MAS) and other techniques have accelerated the development of durable resistant/tolerant lines with high accuracy in the shortest possible period of time for agricultural sustainability. Gene stacking has not been fully utilized for biotic stress resistance development and quality improvement in most of the major cultivated crops. This review emphasizes on gene pyramiding techniques that are being successfully deployed in modern agriculture for improving crop tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses for sustainable crop improvement.

Download Full-text

Gene Pyramiding for Sustainable Crop Improvement against Biotic and Abiotic Stresses

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10091255 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 1255 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Richard Dormatey ◽

Chao Sun ◽

Kazim Ali ◽

Jeffrey A. Coulter ◽

Zhenzhen Bi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Abiotic Stresses ◽

Insect Pest ◽

Crop Improvement ◽

Gene Pyramiding ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Biotic And Abiotic Stresses ◽

Crop Species ◽

Crop Tolerance ◽

Modern Agriculture ◽

Pest Infestation

Sustainable agricultural production is endangered by several ecological factors, such as drought, extreme temperatures, excessive salts, parasitic ailments, and insect pest infestation. These challenging environmental factors may have adverse effects on future agriculture production in many countries. In modern agriculture, conventional crop-breeding techniques alone are inadequate for achieving the increasing population’s food demand on a sustainable basis. The advancement of molecular genetics and related technologies are promising tools for the selection of new crop species. Gene pyramiding through marker-assisted selection (MAS) and other techniques have accelerated the development of durable resistant/tolerant lines with high accuracy in the shortest period of time for agricultural sustainability. Gene stacking has not been fully utilized for biotic stress resistance development and quality improvement in most of the major cultivated crops. This review emphasizes on gene pyramiding techniques that are being successfully deployed in modern agriculture for improving crop tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses for sustainable crop improvement.

Download Full-text

Insights into Marker Assisted Selection and Its Applications in Plant Breeding

10.5772/intechopen.95004 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gayatri Kumawat ◽

Chander Kanta Kumawat ◽

Kailash Chandra ◽

Saurabh Pandey ◽

Subhash Chand ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Markers ◽

Plant Breeding ◽

Short Duration ◽

Marker Assisted Selection ◽

Production Systems ◽

Crop Improvement ◽

Gene Pyramiding ◽

Genetic Purity ◽

Crop Species ◽

Germplasm Diversity

Burgeoning the human population with its required food demand created a burden on ever-decreasing cultivated land and our food production systems. This situation prompted plant scientists to breed crops in a short duration with specific traits. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) has emerged as a potential tool to achieve desirable results in plants with the help of molecular markers and improves the traits of interest in a short duration. The MAS has comprehensively been used in plant breeding to characterize germplasm, diversity analysis, trait stacking, gene pyramiding, multi-trait introgression, and genetic purity of different cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and fiber crops, etc. Mapping studies pointed out several marker-trait associations from different crop species, which specifies the potential application of MAS in accelerating crop improvement. This chapter presents an overview of molecular markers, their genesis, and potential use in plant breeding.

Download Full-text

Transcription Factors Associated with Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance and Their Potential for Crops Improvement

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes10100771 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 771 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Baillo ◽

Kimotho ◽

Zhang ◽

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factors ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Biotic Stress ◽

Crop Improvement ◽

Abiotic And Biotic Stress ◽

Crop Species ◽

Biotic Stresses ◽

Wide Range ◽

Tf Gene

In field conditions, crops are adversely affected by a wide range of abiotic stresses including drought, cold, salt, and heat, as well as biotic stresses including pests and pathogens. These stresses can have a marked effect on crop yield. The present and future effects of climate change necessitate the improvement of crop stress tolerance. Plants have evolved sophisticated stress response strategies, and genes that encode transcription factors (TFs) that are master regulators of stress-responsive genes are excellent candidates for crop improvement. Related examples in recent studies include TF gene modulation and overexpression approaches in crop species to enhance stress tolerance. However, much remains to be discovered about the diverse plant TFs. Of the >80 TF families, only a few, such as NAC, MYB, WRKY, bZIP, and ERF/DREB, with vital roles in abiotic and biotic stress responses have been intensively studied. Moreover, although significant progress has been made in deciphering the roles of TFs in important cereal crops, fewer TF genes have been elucidated in sorghum. As a model drought-tolerant crop, sorghum research warrants further focus. This review summarizes recent progress on major TF families associated with abiotic and biotic stress tolerance and their potential for crop improvement, particularly in sorghum. Other TF families and non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression are discussed briefly. Despite the emphasis on sorghum, numerous examples from wheat, rice, maize, and barley are included. Collectively, the aim of this review is to illustrate the potential application of TF genes for stress tolerance improvement and the engineering of resistant crops, with an emphasis on sorghum.

Download Full-text

Research and Application of Molecular and Phenotypic Data for Tree Biodiversity Evaluation

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12050564 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 564

Author(s):

Gaetano Distefano

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Agronomic Traits ◽

Crop Improvement ◽

Phenotypic Data ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Biotic Stresses ◽

Tree Crop ◽

Ecological Habitats

The main challenges for tree crop improvement are linked to the sustainable development of agro-ecological habitats, improving the adaptability to limiting environmental factors and resistance to biotic stresses or promoting novel genotypes with improved agronomic traits [...]

Download Full-text

Comparative Experimental Effects of Intercropping and Cypermethrin on Insect Pest Infestation and Yield of Maize, Cowpea and Okra in Two Cameroonian Agro-Ecological Zones

AgriEngineering ◽

10.3390/agriengineering3020025 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 383-393

Author(s):

Patient Farsia Djidjonri ◽

Nukenine Elias Nchiwan ◽

Hartmut Koehler

Keyword(s):

Field Experiments ◽

Insect Pests ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Insect Pest ◽

Maize Yield ◽

Ecological Zones ◽

Pest Infestation ◽

Final Yield ◽

Cropping Seasons ◽

Agro Ecological Zones

The present study investigates the effect of intercropping (maize-cowpea, maize-okra, maize-okra-cowpea, okra-cowpea) compared to insecticide application on the level of infestation of insect pests and the final yield of maize, cowpea and okra. Field experiments were conducted during the 2016 and 2017 cropping seasons in the Guinean Savannah (Dang-Ngaoundere) and Sudano Sahelian (Gouna-Garoua) agro-ecological zones in Cameroon. Our experimental design was a split plot arrangement in a randomized complete block with four replications. The main factor was assigned to the use of insecticide (Cypermethrin) and sub plots were devoted for cropping systems. We compared the efficiency of intercropping to that of Cypermethrin application on the Yield of maize, cowpea and okra as influenced by insect pest damages. The comparison of monocropped sprayed by Cypermethrin to unsprayed showed that, in Dang, insect pests reduced maize yield by 37% and 24% in 2016 and 2017, respectively, whereas in Gouna, it was lower than 8% during the both years. Reduction in seed yield by insect pests on cowpea in Dang represented 47% and 50% in 2016 and 2017, respectively, whereas in Gouna, it was 55% and 63% in 2016 and 2017, respectively. For okra, insect pests reduced okra fruit yield by 25% and 44% in Dang and 23% and 28% in Gouna, respectively, in 2016 and 2017. Crop yield was lower in intercropping compared to monoculture due to competition of plants in association on different resources. Considering the total yields obtained from each intercropping, intercropping trials resulted generally in higher yields compared to mono-culture (LER > 1) in both sites and years but the respective yields were quite different. On the basis of the results obtained, we recommend maize-cowpea intercropping as a sustainable solution to reduce the infestation level of their pest insects.

Download Full-text

Mining Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) Family Genes in Cleistogenes songorica, a Xerophyte Perennial Desert Plant

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms19113430 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (11) ◽

pp. 3430 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Blaise Muvunyi ◽

Qi Yan ◽

Fan Wu ◽

Xueyang Min ◽

Zhuan Yan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Regulatory Elements ◽

Late Embryogenesis Abundant ◽

Desert Plant ◽

Promoter Regions ◽

Biotic Stresses ◽

Lea Genes ◽

Crop Tolerance ◽

Late Embryogenesis ◽

Potential Applications

Plant growth and development depends on its ability to maintain optimal cellular homeostasis during abiotic and biotic stresses. Cleistogenes songorica, a xerophyte desert plant, is known to have novel drought stress adaptation strategies and contains rich pools of stress tolerance genes. Proteins encoded by Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) family genes promote cellular activities by functioning as disordered molecules, or by limiting collisions between enzymes during stresses. To date, functions of the LEA family genes have been heavily investigated in many plant species except perennial monocotyledonous species. In this study, 44 putative LEA genes were identified in the C. songorica genome and were grouped into eight subfamilies, based on their conserved protein domains and domain organizations. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that C. songorica Dehydrin and LEA_2 subfamily proteins shared high sequence homology with stress responsive Dehydrin proteins from Arabidopsis. Additionally, promoter regions of CsLEA_2 or CsDehydrin subfamily genes were rich in G-box, drought responsive (MBS), and/or Abscisic acid responsive (ABRE) cis-regulatory elements. In addition, gene expression analyses indicated that genes from these two subfamilies were highly responsive to heat stress and ABA treatment, in both leaves and roots. In summary, the results from this study provided a comprehensive view of C. songorica LEA genes and the potential applications of these genes for the improvement of crop tolerance to abiotic stresses.

Download Full-text

Advances in Developing Multigene Abiotic and Biotic Stress-Tolerant Rice Varieties

10.5772/intechopen.93751 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Nitika Sandhu ◽

Shailesh Yadav ◽

Arvind Kumar

Keyword(s):

Abiotic Stresses ◽

Major Effect ◽

Rice Production ◽

Abiotic And Biotic Stress ◽

Rice Varieties ◽

Crop Species ◽

Multiple Stresses ◽

Global Food Security ◽

Biotic Stresses ◽

Global Food

Increasing incidences of multiple abiotic stresses together with increasing population are the major constraints to attain the global food security. Rice, the major staple food crop is very much prone to various abiotic and biotic stresses, which can occur one at a time or two or more together in a single crop growing season and adversely affects the rice production and productivity. The devastating effect of multiple stresses on rice crop is much more erratic and complex leading to higher losses in the crop grain yield. The concurrent occurrence of multiple streeses can destroy rice production in many of the rainfed areas of South and Southeast-Asia. Genomics-assisted breeding strategies have been instrumental in introgression of various major effect QTLs/genes into rice mega varieties and have proven successful in achieving the desired level of tolerance/resistance to various abiotic stresses in diffferent crop species. Keeping the present scenario of changing climate in mind, the chapter discusses the recent past success in combining tolerance to two or more abiotic stresses in mega rice varieties applying genomics-assisted breeding and development of high-yielding climate resilient rice through stacking of multiple genes/QTLs, which can withstand in a cascade of multiple stresses occurring regularly in rainfed environments.

Download Full-text

Efficient Genetic Transformation of Rice for CRISPR/Cas9 Mediated Genome-Editing and Stable Overexpression Studies: A Case Study on Rice Lipase 1 and Galactinol Synthase Encoding Genes

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy12010179 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 179

Author(s):

Tanika Thakur ◽

Kshitija Sinha ◽

Tushpinder Kaur ◽

Ritu Kapoor ◽

Gulshan Kumar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Transformation ◽

Crop Improvement ◽

Rice Cultivar ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Rice Transformation ◽

Transformation Protocol ◽

Galactinol Synthase ◽

Biotic Stresses ◽

Putative Transformants ◽

Efficient Genetic Transformation

Rice is a staple food crop for almost half of the world’s population, especially in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. It is widely grown in different climatic conditions, depending on the quality of the water, soil, and genetic makeup of the rice cultivar. Many (a)biotic stresses severely curtail rice growth and development, with an eventual reduction in crop yield. However, for molecular functional analysis, the availability of an efficient genetic transformation protocol is essential. To ensure food security and safety for the continuously increasing global population, the development of climate-resilient crops is crucial. Here, in this study, the rice transformation protocol has been effectively optimized for the efficient and rapid generation of rice transgenic plants. We also highlighted the critical steps and precautionary measures to be taken while performing the rice transformation. We further assess the efficacy of this protocol by transforming rice with two different transformation constructs for generating galactinol synthase (GolS) overexpression lines and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated edited lines of lipase (Lip) encoding the OsLip1 gene. The putative transformants were subjected to molecular analysis to confirm gene integration/editing, respectively. Collectively, the easy, efficient, and rapid rice transformation protocol used in this present study can be applied as a potential tool for gene(s) function studies in rice and eventually to the rice crop improvement.

Download Full-text

Еffect of insect infestation on the economic value of smoked fish sold in selected markets in Nigeria

Agricultural Science and Technology ◽

10.15547/ast.2020.01.015 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 82-86

Author(s):

A.A. Ayeloja ◽

F.O.A. George ◽

W.A. Jimoh ◽

G.L. Adebisi

Keyword(s):

Insect Pests ◽

Insect Pest ◽

Economic Value ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Economic Loss ◽

Insect Infestation ◽

Chi Square ◽

Smoked Fish ◽

Pest Infestation ◽

Multistage Sampling

Abstract. In the present study a multistage sampling technique using semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio- economic characteristics of the respondents and on economic loss of smoked fish resulting from insect pest infestation. Smoked fishes were bought from 10 markets in Oyo state, South West of Nigeria and checked in the laboratory for the insect pests. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. Results indicated that insects at their larvae stage cause more economic loss to smoked fish than adult insects while Necrobia rufipes and Dermestes spp. are the insects found to infest the smoked fishes in this study. The insect infestation of the smoked fish leads to huge economic loss. Of all respondent groups the women dominate smoked fish business.

Download Full-text

Effects of Different Water Regimes and Spacing on Insect Pest Infestation and Efficacy of Control Measures in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

Journal of Experimental Agriculture International ◽

10.9734/jeai/2019/v41i530415 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

A. A. Oso ◽

G. O. Awe

Keyword(s):

Integrated Pest Management ◽

Pest Management ◽

Pest Control ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Insect Pest ◽

Cultural Control ◽

Irrigated Agriculture ◽

Yield Attributes ◽

Pest Infestation ◽

And Control

Aim: Information on the influence of water availability during different seasons of rainfed or irrigated agriculture as it relates to insect pest population build-up in crops could assist in the development of integrated pest management. A study was therefore conducted to investigate effects of spacing, pest infestation and control on cucumber under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Place and Duration of Study: At the Teaching and Research Farm, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria during the 2016/2017 rainy and dry seasons. Methodology: The experiment was laid out using randomized complete block design (RCBD) in a split-plot arrangement in five replications, with spacing (60 x 60 cm, 60 x 90 cm and 60 x 120 cm) as the main plot treatments and the sub-plot treatments were different pest control strategies. The pest control strategies include synthetic insecticide (Lambda-cyhalothrin), botanical insecticide (Anogeissus leiocarpus) and control. Growth parameters and yield attributes were recorded. Insect pest occurrence, their build-up and percentage infestation on cucumber and the efficacy of the management strategies were monitored. Results: The results showed that yield was enhanced in irrigated system with the widest spacing of 60 x 120 cm botanical treatment interaction. Bemisia tabaci was the most prominent insect pest attacking cucumber under irrigated system. Conclusion: Other cultural control practices such as the use of trap crops with little or no financial implication should also be added to botanical pesticides as an integrated pest management tactic for effective management and control of the pest.

Download Full-text