DNA record of some traditional small millet landraces in India and Nepal.

Subramanyam Ragupathy,Shanmughanandhan Dhivya,Ramalingam Sathishkumar,Steven G Newmaster,Hom Gartaula,Kamal Khadka,Abiran Sritharan,Kirit Patel,Kathirvelu Sambandan,Balasubramanian C Nirmala,A Nirmala Kumari

doi:10.1007/s13205-016-0450-6

Subramanyam Ragupathy, Shanmughanandhan Dhivya + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-016-0450-6

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Abstract

Despite the extensive use of small millet landraces as an important source of nutrition for people living in semi-arid regions, they are presently marginalized and their diversity and distribution are threatened at a global scale. Local farmers have developed ancient breeding programs entrenched in traditional knowledge (TK) that has sustained rural cultures for thousands of years. The convention on biological diversity seeks fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources arising from local knowledge and requires signatory nations to provide appropriate policy and legal framework to farmers’ rights over plant genetic resources and associated TK. DNA barcoding employed in this study is proposed as a model for conservation of genetic diversity and an essential step towards documenting and protecting farmers’ rights and TK. Our study focuses on 32 landraces of small millets that are still used by indigenous farmers located in the rain fed areas of rural India and Nepal. Traditional knowledge of traits and utility was gathered using participatory methods and semi-structured interviews with key informants. DNA was extracted and sequenced (rbcL, trnH-psbA and ITS2) from 160 samples. Both multivariate analysis of traits and phylogenetic analyses were used to assess diversity among small millet landraces. Our research revealed considerable variation in traits and DNA sequences among the 32 small millet landraces. We utilized a tiered approach using ITS2 DNA barcode to make 100 % accurate landrace (32 landraces) and species (six species) assignments for all 160 blind samples in our study. We have also recorded precious TK of nutritional value, ecological and agricultural traits used by local farmers for each of these traditional landraces. This research demonstrates the potential of DNA barcoding as a reliable identification tool and for use in evaluating and conserving genetic diversity of small millets. We suggest ways in which DNA barcodes could be used in the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights in India and Nepal.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13205-016-0450-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Cultivated for centuries, millets are an important source of human food in semi-arid regions of Asia and Africa
The present study aims to answer the following questions to provide more information on the diversity among small millet landraces: (1) Is there a variation in traits among the small millet landraces? If so, how does this variation group landraces in multivariate ordination space?; (2) Is there a sufficient genetic variation (ITS2, trnH-psbA) to allow a fine scale classification of 32 small millets?; and (3) How can DNA barcodes can help in protecting farmers’ rights recognized under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)?
There is limited research on the genomic variation found among small millet landraces

Summary

Introduction

Cultivated for centuries, millets are an important source of human food in semi-arid regions of Asia and Africa. Farmers have selected for specific ecological/agricultural traits in small millet landraces that have allowed them to cultivate these crops in marginal regions (Weber 1998) This ancient breeding program is entrenched in traditional knowledge (TK) that has sustained cultures such as the Malayali farming communities in the Eastern Ghats (of India) for thousands of years (Rengalakshmi 2005). How does this variation group landraces in multivariate ordination space?; (2) Is there a sufficient genetic variation (ITS2, trnH-psbA) to allow a fine scale classification of 32 small millets?; and (3) How can DNA barcodes can help in protecting farmers’ rights recognized under the CBD? The present study aims to answer the following questions to provide more information on the diversity among small millet landraces: (1) Is there a variation in traits among the small millet landraces? If so, how does this variation group landraces in multivariate ordination space?; (2) Is there a sufficient genetic variation (ITS2, trnH-psbA) to allow a fine scale classification of 32 small millets?; and (3) How can DNA barcodes can help in protecting farmers’ rights recognized under the CBD?

Materials and methods

Results and discussion

Compliance with ethical standards