Use of Rice SSR Markers as RAPD Markers for Genetic Diversity Analysis in Zingiberaceae

Species of Zingiberaceae display a diversity in habitat, ethnobotanical use and morphology. However, little is known about the genetic relationships among taxa and genetic diversity, primarily due to the lack of suitable molecular markers. We tested the cross-amplification potential of microsatellite markers among taxa to identify a larger number of genetic markers. To assess the applicability of rice microsatellite markers to the Zingiberaceae, we tested 12 microsatellite markers for 14 genotypes from three genera of this family: Zingiber, Alpinia and Curcuma. The origin of the genotypes was diverse, covering eight Asian countries. Four microsatellite primer sets failed to amplify fragments in all genotypes studied, whereas the other primer sets amplified all the genotypes. Among the 141 bands, that could be scored, 140 (99.5%) were polymorphic. On the average, each microsatellite primer set amplified 17.6 DNA fragments. In general, amplified fragments were larger than the original rice fragments including the microsatellite region, although in some cases, the amplified bands were similar in size. Though sequence analysis of these bands confirmed the absence of target repeat motif, amplification of a large number of polymorphic bands provided the basis to perform an analysis of genetic diversity. Primers could generate enough polymorphism for possible use in diversity studies, based on provisional multivariate analyses such as cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). The whole set of genotypes based on molecular data was classified into four clusters after cluster analysis. Genotypes from the Curcuma and Alpinia genera were grouped into clusters I and II, respectively. Clusters III and IV comprised genotypes from the genus Zingiber. PCA led to a similar classification. The high polymorphism documented in the present study indicated that the rice microsatellite primers were useful for genetic diversity studies among genera in the family Zingiberaceae

Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: A Synopsis of Coordinated National Crop Wild Relative Seed Collecting Programs across Five Continents

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change Project set out to improve the diversity, quantity, and accessibility of germplasm collections of crop wild relatives (CWR). Between 2013 and 2018, partners in 25 countries, heirs to the globetrotting legacy of Nikolai Vavilov, undertook seed collecting expeditions targeting CWR of 28 crops of global significance for agriculture. Here, we describe the implementation of the 25 national collecting programs and present the key results. A total of 4587 unique seed samples from at least 355 CWR taxa were collected, conserved ex situ, safety duplicated in national and international genebanks, and made available through the Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty). Collections of CWR were made for all 28 targeted crops. Potato and eggplant were the most collected genepools, although the greatest number of primary genepool collections were made for rice. Overall, alfalfa, Bambara groundnut, grass pea and wheat were the genepools for which targets were best achieved. Several of the newly collected samples have already been used in pre-breeding programs to adapt crops to future challenges.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characterization of the genetic structure of mango ginger ( Curcuma amada Roxb.) from Myanmar in farm and genebank collection by the neutral and functional genomic markers

A preliminary characterization was undertaken to describe genetic structure of mango ginger ( Curcuma amada ) acquired from farmers and ex situ genebank in Myanmar using neutral (rice SSR based RAPDs) and functional genomic (P450 based analog) markers. The high polymorphism (> 91%) depicted has displayed existence of genetic variability in the germplasm investigated. Large number of source-specific alleles (neutral-markers = 78, functional-markers = 63) was amplified which revealed that neutral regions of the mango ginger were more variable compared with the functional regions. The major fraction of the molecular variance (neutral-markers = 85%, functional-markers = 93%) was explained within germplasm acquisition sources and this tendency was also supported by the estimate of gene diversity. The genebank accessions have shown comparatively more genetic variability than farmers'accessions. The variability observed in mango ginger may possibly be associated with the long history of its cultivation under diverse ecological conditions. The two marker systems elucidated their high resolving power which detected variability even in fewer genotypes assayed. As the target sites of these markers are different, therefore, the variability detected is believed to cover diverse part of the genome together with neutral and functional regions. We found the concurrent use of the different types of molecular markers valuable to comprehend a dependable variability pattern in the germplasm assayed

Optimizing the phosphorus use in cotton by using CSM-CROPGRO-cotton model for semi-arid climate of Vehari-Punjab, Pakistan

Crop nutrient management is an essential component of any cropping system. With increasing concerns over environmental protection, improvement in fertilizer use efficiencies has become a prime goal in global agriculture system. Phosphorus (P) is one of the most important nutrients, and strategies are required to optimize its use in important arable crops like cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) that has great significance. Sustainable P use in crop production could significantly avoid environmental hazards resulting from over-P fertilization. Crop growth modeling has emerged as an effective tool to assess and predict the optimal nutrient requirements for different crops. In present study, Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer (DSSAT) sub-model CSM-CROPGRO-Cotton-P was evaluated to estimate the observed and simulated P use in two cotton cultivars grown at three P application rates under the semi-arid climate of southern Punjab, Pakistan. The results revealed that both the cultivars performed best at medium rate of P application (57\ua0kg\ua0ha-1) in terms of days to anthesis, days to maturity, seed cotton yield, total dry matter production, and harvest index during 2013 and 2014. Cultivar FH-142 performed better than MNH-886 in terms of different yield components. There was a good agreement between observed and simulated days to anthesis (0 to 1\ua0day), days to maturity (0 to 2\ua0days), seed cotton yield, total dry matter, and harvest index with an error of -4.4 to 15%, 12-7.5%, and 13-9.5% in MNH-886 and for FH-142, 4-16%, 19-11%, and 16-8.3% for growing years 2013 and 2014, respectively. CROPGRO-Cotton-P would be a useful tool to forecast cotton yield under different levels of P in cotton production system of the semi-arid climate of Southern Punjab