Abstract
Drought, one of the most important abiotic stress factors limiting biomass, significantly reduces crop productivity. Salinization also affects the productivity of both irrigated and rain-fed wheat crops. Species of genus Aegilops can be considered crop wild relatives (CWR) of wheat and have been widely used as gene sources in wheat breeding, especially in providing resistance to pests and diseases. Five species (Ae. biuncialis, Ae. geniculata, Ae. neglecta, Ae. triuncialis and Ae. ventricosa) are included in the Spanish National Inventory of CWRs. This study aimed to identify ecogeographic gaps in the Spanish Network on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) with potential tolerance to drought and salinity. Data on the Spanish populations of the target species collected and conserved in genebanks of the Spanish Network on PGRFA and data on other population occurrences in Spain were compiled and assessed for their geo-referencing quality. The records with the best geo-referencing quality values were used to identify the ecogeographical variables that might be important for Aegilops distribution in Spain. These variables were then used to produce ecogeographic land characterization maps for each species, allowing us to identify populations from low and non-represented ecogeographical categories in ex situ collections. Predictive characterization strategy was used to identify 45 Aegilops populations in these ecogeographical gaps with potential tolerance to drought and salinity conditions. Further efforts are being made to collect and evaluate these populations.
Highlights
Drought is one of the most important abiotic stress factors limiting biomass (Araus et al, 2002), and, it significantly reduces crop productivity (Lambers, Chapin & Pons, 2008; Noorka & Pat Heslop-Harrison, 2014)
Salt-affected soils occur in all continents and under almost all climatic conditions. They are more widely distributed in arid and semi-arid regions than in humid regions (Abrol, Yadav & Massoud, 1988). Many crops in these areas are grown under irrigation, but inadequate irrigation management may lead to secondary salinization (Glick et al, 2007)
The objectives of this study were: (1) to identify spatial and ecogeographical gaps within Spain land which could be present in the Spanish genebank collections of Aegilops biuncialis, Ae. geniculata, Ae. neglecta, Ae. triuncialis and Ae. ventricosa to design an optimized systematic collection strategy of crop wild relatives of wheat for the national genebank of Spain; and (2) to identify non-collected populations that might be of potential interest because of their tolerance to drought and salinity within the group of ecogeographical gaps for each species in order to prioritize their collection
Summary
Drought is one of the most important abiotic stress factors limiting biomass (Araus et al, 2002), and, it significantly reduces crop productivity (Lambers, Chapin & Pons, 2008; Noorka & Pat Heslop-Harrison, 2014). Another threat to both irrigated and rain-fed wheat crops is salinization (MujeebKazi & Diaz de Leon, 2002). Salt-affected soils occur in all continents and under almost all climatic conditions They are more widely distributed in arid and semi-arid regions than in humid regions (Abrol, Yadav & Massoud, 1988). Large areas of naturally saline and alkaline soils account for 6% of the world’s land surface. These saline soils have never been cultivated because present major crops are salt-sensitive (Fita et al, 2015)
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