Creating and De Novo Improvement of New Allopolyploid Crops for Future Agriculture

Abstract

The development of climate change resilient crops is conducive to meeting the increasing threat of supporting the growing world population. Polyploidy occupies an important position in angiosperm evolution, as a key factor that shapes plant biodiversity, growth vigor, environmental adaptation, and emerging chemical compounds. In this review, we outlined the development and application of creating new allopolyploids using sexual and asexual approaches and their potential benefits and problems. We described how polyploidization caused strict genome modification at cytogenetic, genetic, and epigenetic levels with emphasis on the latest update on genome assembly of newly synthesized allopolyploids. Despite the success in creating new allopolyploids in many genera, it occasionally gave rise to undesirable traits to impact the utilization of newly synthetic allopolyploids. Recent developments in the de novo domestication of wild species through genome editing provide a route to create new crops to secure the global food supply. Following the strategy, de novo improvement of newly synthetic allopolyploids using genome editing could be galvanized to rapidly improve newly synthesized allopolyploids to meet agriculture demands and enable plant breeders to keep pace with global changes.