Abstract
BackgroundGlobal warming and issues in favour of a more sustainable agriculture suggest a reconsideration of minor cereals in European agrosystems. Compared to other summer crops, proso millet has a remarkable drought resistance and could be used to improve crop rotation and biodiversity. Proso millet is also increasingly sought by industry to produce novel foods such as those designed for coeliac patients. In this study, a thorough characterization of 11, commercially available, proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) varieties was carried out as a preliminary step for crop reintroduction and breeding in Western Europe.MethodsThe cultivars under evaluation were introduced from Austria, Poland, Russia, and the USA (University of Nebraska–Lincoln). Plants were grown at Udine (NE Italy) and Gleisdorf (Styria, Austria), under greenhouse and field conditions, respectively. Yield components and a range of morphophysiological characters were recorded in both locations. In parallel, 85 SSR markers were tested on DNA samples extracted from randomly chosen plants of each variety and the 12 responsive markers used to genotype the whole variety set.ResultsMorphometric analyses showed that varieties have several diverging phenotypic traits and architectures. In all instances, yields recorded at field level were much lower than potential yields. In this respect, US selections were comparable to earlier developed European varieties, suggesting that breeding for an increased adaptation is the keystone for a stable reintroduction of millet in Western Europe. Molecular analyses uncovered remarkably low genetic differences and heterozygosity levels within cultivars, confirming millet as an essentially autogamous species; in contrast, large genetic distances were noted among cultivars selected in different environments. Results of SSR genotyping combined with those originating from phenotypic analyses indicated possible crosses to source the genetic variability necessary for selection.ConclusionsThis study enabled the identification of cultivars that could be used to revitalize the crop in Western Europe and to produce genetically variable hybrid progenies exploitable by breeding.
Highlights
Global warming and issues in favour of a more sustainable agriculture suggest a reconsideration of minor cereals in European agrosystems
In recent times a trend has been recorded in human diet diversification (Fanzo et al 2013; Dwivedi et al 2017) and the spread of food recipes naturally enriched in nutritional elements has raised the interest of consumers and food industries in proso millet as well as other minor cereals (Das et al 2019)
Varietal differences in morphometric traits Proso millet is widely recognized as an adaptable species, capable to grow with minimal agronomic input in hot and dry climates where harsh conditions discourage farmers to undertake the cultivation of other summer crops (Bandyopadhyay et al 2017; Saxena et al 2018)
Summary
Global warming and issues in favour of a more sustainable agriculture suggest a reconsideration of minor cereals in European agrosystems. Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is a minor cereal whose main characteristics are the short life cycle and the remarkable heat and drought resistance. Proso millet was domesticated 8000–10,000 years ago in East Asia (Lu et al 2009) as one of the earliest dry crops It was introduced into Western Europe during the Late Middle Ages from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, but its subsequent diffusion ceased abruptly after the introduction of maize and potato from the Americas; millet decline prolonged over time due to the preference of farmers for more profitable summer crops. In recent times a trend has been recorded in human diet diversification (Fanzo et al 2013; Dwivedi et al 2017) and the spread of food recipes naturally enriched in nutritional elements has raised the interest of consumers and food industries in proso millet as well as other minor cereals (Das et al 2019)
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