Abstract
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a culturally significant staple food source that has been grown for thousands of years in South America. Due to its natural drought and salinity tolerance, quinoa has emerged as an agronomically important crop for production in marginal soils, in highly variable climates, and as part of diverse crop rotations. Primary areas of quinoa research have focused on improving resistance to abiotic stresses and disease, improving yields, and increasing nutrition. However, an evolving issue impacting quinoa seed end-use quality is preharvest sprouting (PHS), which is when seeds with little to no dormancy experience a rain event prior to harvest and sprout on the panicle. Far less is understood about the mechanisms that regulate quinoa seed dormancy and seed viability. This review will cover topics including seed dormancy, orthodox and unorthodox dormancy programs, desiccation sensitivity, environmental and hormonal mechanisms that regulate seed dormancy, and breeding and non-breeding strategies for enhancing resistance to PHS in quinoa.
Highlights
Introduction toQuinoa, Cultivars, Breeding Issues, and Preharvest SproutingQuinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a pseudocereal originating from the AndesMountain Range in South America and is a culturally significant staple food source that has been grown for thousands of years [1,2]
Over the last decade quinoa has emerged as a high-value, nutritious crop to enhance food security; it is artisanal, and it performs well in variable environments and in marginal soils
Many research efforts have centered on understanding and improving traits related to abiotic stress tolerance, disease resistance, and yield
Summary
Physical dormancy is an additional subcategory of orthodox dormancy, involving the embryo, seed coat, or both [61,62,63]. In a recent study, seed coat thickness was measured in two varieties of quinoa, Chadmo and 2-Want, to evaluate if differences in observed dormancy occurred because of seed coatimposed dormancy and in turn impacted PHS [64]. In both cases seed coat disruption did not completely alleviate dormancy This finding suggested that in addition to seed coat-imposed dormancy, some quinoa varieties have embryo dormancy [64]. Likewise, seed coat studies evaluating dormancy in quinoa varieties such as Chadmo and Titicaca indicated that dormancy is stronger in seeds with a darker colored coat [64]. Future studies will need to examine the genetic connection between seed coat thickness, color, and ABA signaling mechanisms, as well as associated impacts on dormancy programs across a wide collection of quinoa cultivars
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