Abstract
Crop wild relatives are species related to cultivated plants, whose populations have evolved in natural conditions and confer them valuable adaptive genetic diversity, that can be used in introgression breeding programs. Targeting four wild lentil taxa in Europe, we applied the predictive characterization approach through the filtering method to identify populations potentially tolerant to drought, salinity, and waterlogging. In parallel, the calibration method was applied to select wild populations potentially resistant to lentil rust and broomrape, using, respectively, 351 and 204 accessions evaluated for these diseases. An ecogeographic land characterization map was used to incorporate potential genetic diversity of adaptive value. We identified 13, 1, 21, and 30 populations potentially tolerant to drought, soil salinity, waterlogging, or resistance to rust, respectively. The models targeting broomrape resistance did not adjust well and thus, we were not able to select any population regarding this trait. The systematic use of predictive characterization techniques may boost the efficiency of introgression breeding programs by increasing the chances of collecting the most appropriate populations for the desired traits. However, these populations must still be experimentally tested to confirm the predictions.
Highlights
In the last century, the advances in plant breeding in search of the most productive and nutritional cultivars have allowed feeding millions of people (Khush, 2001)
The taxon with the highest number of records is L. nigricans with 443 populations found in 12 countries, followed by L. ervoides which has 145 populations in nine countries
The interest in the incorporation of genetic diversity of wild lentils in pre-breeding and breeding programs is endorsed by recent studies targeting these species and the reported genetic diversity of adaptive value they possess (Ferguson and Robertson, 1999; Coyne and McGee, 2013; Kumar et al, 2014; Singh et al, 2014; Coyne et al, 2020; Id et al, 2020), to both biotic and abiotic stresses
Summary
The advances in plant breeding in search of the most productive and nutritional cultivars have allowed feeding millions of people (Khush, 2001). Food security is menaced by the decrease in the diversity of crop species and the genetically uniform crop cultivars resulting from the breeding for higher yields (Esquinas-Alcázar, 2005; Khoury et al, 2014, 2021). Climate change is affecting crop production and food security, with different impacts depending on the area of the world and the economic status of the country (Rosenzweig and Parry, 1994; Challinor et al, 2009, 2014; Wheeler and von Braun, 2013; Rosenzweig et al, 2014). The reduction of genetic diversity in crops has made modern crop cultivars more vulnerable to biotic and abiotic stresses which are further aggravated by climate change (Heal et al, 2004; Massawe et al, 2016). The adaptation of agriculture to climate change is imperative (Howden et al, 2007), and acquiring the traits to make crops tolerant to biotic or abiotic stresses is fundamental for food sustainability (Newton et al, 2011)
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