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

Desiccation method and cryoconservation affects amino acids composition of embryonic axes of Phaseolus vulgaris L and Arachis hypogaea L.

The effect of seeds desiccation and cryopreservation on amino acids content in embryonic axes of two Leguminosae of great economic importance, Phaseolus vulgaris L and Arachis hypogaea L, was studied. Proline content in bean embryonic axes was higher, at 24 h of germination, in the control than in those from desiccated and cryopreserved seeds. There were, later, a proline decrease in the control and embryonic axes from desiccated seeds while increased in axes from cryopreserved seeds. In groundnut, at 24 h, in the control and in embryonic axes from cryopreserved seeds, proline content was lower than in those obtained from desiccated seeds. Absolute glutamate content in bean embryonic axes, was much higherwhen seeds were dried at 45 °C. In groundnut, the control showed the highest values with a clear increase in the content of glutamate, in all cases, at 72 h. The relative content of 16 amino acids, showed, in bean, a generalized decrease compared to control at 24 h, except asparagine that increased when the seeds were dried at 45ºC. In groundnut,the results were more heterogeneous. The results suggest that some amino acids may have a role in adaptation to stressful conditions, especially in the suborthodox species

Morphological and Ecogeographic Study of the Diversity of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in Ecuador

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a crop of nutritional and economic importance worldwide, cultivated in more than 100 tropical and subtropical countries including Ecuador, where it is traditionally cultivated in the three continental regions: Amazonia, the Coast and in the valleys of the Sierra. The purpose of this study is to characterize 195 accessions from INIAP’s Ecuadorian cassava collection through (1) morphological characterization with qualitative and quantitative descriptors; and (2) ecogeographic characterization to know the climatic, geophysical, and edaphic conditions in which cassava grows and which environments are frequent or marginal for its cultivation. For the morphological characterization, 27 morphological descriptors were used (18 qualitative and nine quantitative), and for the ecogeographic characterization, 55 variables (41 climatic, two geophysical and 12 edaphic). Four morphological groups and three ecogeographic groups were identified. Morphological variability was evidenced mainly in descriptors related to the leaves, stems, and inflorescences. In addition, it was possible to identify accessions that appear capable of growing under extreme conditions of drought and poor soils. These accessions could be used for improvement

Caracterización morfológica de la diversidad de razas de Zea mays en la Sierra norte de Ecuador

Ecuador tiene gran diversidad genética de maíz con 36 razas, seis de las cuales no están bien definidas. El objetivo de este trabajo fue caracterizar morfológicamente 129 accesiones provenientes de la zona norte de la Sierra de Ecuador, a fin de contribuir a la conservación de la agrobiodiversidad. Para la caracterización morfológica se utilizaron siete descriptores cualitativos y ocho cuantitativos. La similitud entre las accesiones se analizó con el agrupamiento de Ward y la distancia con el coeficiente de Gower. Se calculó el estadístico Chi-cuadrado (X2 ), el coeficiente de Cramer (V) y el de contingencia (P) para identificar descriptores cualitativos más discriminantes y el índice D de Engels, para cuantitativos. Los análisis se realizaron con el programa SAS. El análisis de agrupamiento identificó cuatro grupos con las razas Morochón y Chulpi agrupadas en dos (G2 y G4, respectivamente). Las variables tipo de grano y forma de superficie del grano fueron las más discriminantes. Mayormente se observó accesiones con tipo de grano semidentado y forma de semilla puntiaguda. La variable longitud de mazorca fue la más discriminante, con promedios que estuvieron desde 11,15 ± 2,46 a 13,72 ± 2,83 cm. La Sierra norte se debe priorizar como área de conservación por encontrarse alta diversidad de razas de maíz