Abstract
Natural biodiversity is an underexploited sustainable resource that can enrich the genetic basis of cultivated plants with novel alleles that improve productivity and adaptation. We evaluated the progress in breeding for increased tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) yield using genotypes carrying a pyramid of three independent yield-promoting genomic regions introduced from the drought-tolerant green-fruited wild species Solanum pennellii. Yield of hybrids parented by the pyramided genotypes was more than 50% higher than that of a control market leader variety under both wet and dry field conditions that received 10% of the irrigation water. This demonstration of the breaking of agricultural yield barriers provides the rationale for implementing similar strategies for other agricultural organisms that are important for global food security.
Highlights
Plant evolution under domestication has led to increased productivity, but at the same time it has narrowed the genetic basis of crop species (Ladizinsky 1998)
A major objective in modern breeding is to return to the wild ancestors of crop plants and employ some of the diversity that was lost during domestication for the improvement of agricultural yields under optimal as well as stress field conditions (Bessey 1906; Tanksley and McCouch 1997; Lee 1998; Zamir 2001)
To enhance the rate of progress of breeding based on wildspecies resources, we developed a population of tomato segmental introgression lines (ILs)
Summary
Plant evolution under domestication has led to increased productivity, but at the same time it has narrowed the genetic basis of crop species (Ladizinsky 1998). The BY values of the inbred testers in the wet and dry treatments were not significantly different from that of M82, whereas the four hybrid combinations with M82 had higher mean BY in both environments (71% in the wet treatment and 51% in the dry treatment; Figure 3B) This improvement over the parents reflects the genetic variation present in the cultivated tomato gene pool, which was expressed as hybrid vigour originating from crossing of the preselected diverse inbreds (see Figure 1). In the dry trials there was a highly significant genotypic effect and marginally significant effects for the environment; no interaction between the two components was detected, and IL789 3 76 had higher BY in all experiments This analysis highlights the potential of wild germplasm to affect yield stability in diverse environments, which has long been recognized as an important objective in plant breeding
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