Diversity Of Landraces Research Articles

Ethnobotany of food plants used by Minangkabau Community in Lima Puluh Kota District, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract. Agesti ARA, Ariyanti NS, Chikmawati T, Purwanto Y. 2023. Ethnobotany of food plants used by Minangkabau Community in Lima Puluh Kota District, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 24: 2756-2767. The Minangkabau tribe is well known for its culture and cuisine, but documents on their knowledge and wisdom in the utilization of food plants are still limited. This study aims to inventory plant species used for food by Minangkabau community, assess their importance and economic value, and analyze the important landscapes where the food plants are obtained. This study was conducted in six villages representing different level of modernization in Lima Puluh Kota District, West Sumatra which is one of the centers of origin of Minangkabau ancestral. Data were collected through open, semi-structured and structured interviews with key informants and respondents. The Pebble Distribution Method (PDM) is used for scoring activities. Data were analyzed to show the use values (UVs), local user's value index (LUVI), index of cultural significance (ICS), and economic value of the food plants. The interviewed informants mentioned 154 plant species from 51 families were used for food. Cocos nucifera L. has the most various uses as food (highest UVs) and is the most important cultivated plant for the Minangkabau culture (ICS) in all the six villages. The most important food plant species based on a community perspective (highest LUVI) is Oryza sativa L. The wild plants having the highest LUVI and ICS differed among the villages. Plants with high economic value include O. sativa, Durio zibethinus Murray and Citrus aurantium L. The landscapes considered important are paddy fields and fields because they provide staple food. Information from this study can support food diversification to achieve food security based on the local knowledge on the diversity of food plant species and potential landraces in Minangkabau community.

Inventory of on-farm sorghum landrace diversity and climate adaptation in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia: implications for sorghum breeding and conservation

The study was conducted with the aim of inventorying and assessing the level of sorghum landraces richness, estimating the extent and patterns of phenotypic diversity, identifying race type, and predicting suitable areas of production using future climate scenarios in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Overall, 358 landraces from 125 independent farmers’ fields in 20 districts belonging to four zones of Tigray were surveyed. Landraces richness, frequency of character states, and diversity levels were estimated via Margalef’s, Menhinick’s and Shannon–Weaver (H′) indices for each zone and altitude classes. Suitable areas for sorghum cultivation in the future were predicted using DIVA-GIS. Altogether, 140 distinctly named landraces were identified and collected. Southern zone has the highest richness (DMg = 10.74, DMn = 5.0) followed by central (DMg = 8.54, DMn = 3.80). The estimated H′ for the phenotypic character states ranged from 0.24 (seed form) to 0.95 (rachis branch length). Highest diversity estimate was found in northwest (H′ = 0.71) followed by central zone (H′ = 0.64). Respectively, H′ was 0.70, 0.68, and 0.61 in lowland, intermediate, and highland elevations. In general, lowlands of northwest, central, and southern zones are identified as potential sites for germplasm conservation and utilization. The races durra, bicolor, caudatum, and durra-bicolor were found with durra as the dominant race (79%). All the currently surveyed areas and many other sites in Tigray are predicted to be suitable for future sorghum production under the changing climate scenario. Copies of all the 358 sorghum landraces are deposited in the national gene bank for use in future sorghum breeding work. The wealth of sorghum landraces diversity could be used in sorghum improvement programs.

Genetic Diversity of Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum, Desf) Germplasm as Revealed by Morphological and SSR Markers.

Ethiopia is considered a center of origin and diversity for durum wheat and is endowed with many diverse landraces. This research aimed to estimate the extent and pattern of genetic diversity in Ethiopian durum wheat germplasm. Thus, 104 durum wheat genotypes representing thirteen populations, three regions, and four altitudinal classes were investigated for their genetic diversity, using 10 grain quality- and grain yield-related phenotypic traits and 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) makers. The analysis of the phenotypic traits revealed a high mean Shannon diversity index (H' = 0.78) among the genotypes and indicated a high level of phenotypic variation. The principal component analysis (PCA) classified the genotypes into three groups. The SSR markers showed a high mean value of polymorphic information content (PIC = 0.50) and gene diversity (h = 0.56), and a moderate number of alleles per locus (Na = 4). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed a high level of variation within populations, regions, and altitudinal classes, accounting for 88%, 97%, and 97% of the total variation, respectively. Pairwise genetic differentiation and Nei's genetic distance analyses identified that the cultivars are distinct from the landrace populations. The distance-based (Discriminant Analysis of Principal Component (DAPC) and Minimum Spanning Network (MSN)) and model-based population stratification (STRUCTURE) methods of clustering grouped the genotypes into two clusters. Both the phenotypic data-based PCA and the molecular data-based DAPC and MSN analyses defined distinct groupings of cultivars and landraces. The phenotypic and molecular diversity analyses highlighted the high genetic variation in the Ethiopian durum wheat gene pool. The investigated SSRs showed significant associations with one or more target phenotypic traits. The markers identify landraces with high grain yield and quality traits. This study highlights the usefulness of Ethiopian landraces for cultivar development, contributing to food security in the region and beyond.

Dissecting a vegetable landrace: Components of variation in Spanish ‘Moruno’ tomatoes as a case studio

The variability of landraces is dissected and related to farmers' practices through surveys. Spanish 'Moruno' tomatoes, recognised for their excellent flavour, were selected as a case study. For this purpose, 30 populations were characterised in a four-year program. Higher intra-population than inter-population variability was found. Variability is generally reduced in the traits used by farmers as selection criteria. Farmers rarely used flavour as a selection criterion, but it is one of the main characteristics used by them to define the landrace. Seed exchange and growing different landraces simultaneously are commonplace, and outcrossing might occur, thus justifying in part the seed degeneration problems experienced by some farmers. At the same time, farmers select seeds for the next year on a per-fruit basis rather than a per-plant basis, justifying the maintenance of a high level of variability. In such cases, high pressure would be applied to key morphological traits but not to flavour. Accordingly, the sugars, acids and volatiles profiles related to flavour in the landraces' populations are highly variable, though the environment also exercises a high effect. It is necessary to make population selections to offer farmers materials combining the best organoleptic perception and a high stable yield. This would reduce the gap between the price premium received by farmers and the expected fair price. It would also be necessary to develop consumer information campaigns to exploit their willingness to pay for the extra value offered by landraces. Only then long-term on-farm conservation would be economically feasible. Although achieving a trade-off between yield and flavour is difficult, it is possible to identify populations that reach a compromise between them. In germplasm banks, it is impossible to evaluate all the materials in the same year. The use of hybrid controls, with no genetic variation, is helpful in considering the environmental effects. Still, genotype x environment interactions are evident, and using selected control populations of landraces is necessary to evaluate possible performances closer to the type of materials being evaluated.

Identifying priority sites for the on-farm conservation of landraces and systematic diversity monitoring through an integrated multi-level hotspot analysis: the case of potatoes in Peru

IntroductionEffective monitoring of the in situ conservation status and change dynamics of landrace populations in their centers of origin ideally requires the identification of sites that are complementary in terms of the richness, uniqueness and coverage of genetic diversity.MethodsWe applied a 4-step approach to identify sites of high potato landrace diversity which will guide the set-up of a network of complementary prospective conservation observatories in Peru, the potato center of origin. A GIS mapping approach was used to determine which combination of sites would provide the most comprehensive and complementary genepool coverage. A landrace inventory was developed from 49 sources, comprising 47,272 landrace records, 97.1% with coordinates, which was used to derive landrace, cultivated species, and cultivar group richness. Data on known indicators of agrobiodiversity, including potato wild relative concurrence, cultivated area, ecogeographic diversity, and ethnolinguistic diversity were included in the spatial overlay analysis, which was used in conjunction with expert opinion data to provide further insight to hotspot selection.ResultsThirteen hotspots with high, unique, and complementary levels of landrace diversity were identified. We recommend that robust baselines are established, documenting current diversity in these sites using semi-standardized methods and metrics for future tracking.DiscussionOur results, while being the most robust of their kind to date, were inevitably affected by data gaps, infrastructure and hotspot biases. New documentation efforts should record landrace diversity in uncovered regions, as well as explore complementary mechanisms to track the conservation status of unique endemic landraces that occur in coldspots.

The search for commercial sweet white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) adaptive to Ethiopian growing condition seems not successful: what should be done?

The study was conducted to find new adaptive commercial sweet white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) varieties and evaluate the effect of inoculum on herbage and seed yields of white and blue lupin varieties in Ethiopia for two growing seasons in two locations. For the experiment a factorial arrangement (seven variety * two inoculation) in a randomized complete block design with three replication was used. Three sweet blue (Bora, Sanabor and Vitabor), three sweet white (Dieta, Energy and Feodora) and one bitter white local landrace lupin varieties were tested in the experiment. Analysis of variance was done using the general linear model procedure in SAS. The effects of location and inoculum were insignificant (P≥ 0.0761) on yield and yield parameters. The effect of variety was observed (P≤ 0.035) only on plant height, fresh biomass yield and thousand seed weight in both seasons except for fresh biomass yield in season two. However, its effect on other parameters was not shown (P≥ 0.134) in both growing seasons or only shown in either season. The mean dry matter yield of all varieties was 2.45 ton per ha. However, sweet blue entries performed better than white entries. The mean seed yield of blue sweet lupin entries and white local check was 2.6 ton per ha. Sweet blue and white local landrace varieties were found tolerant while, commercial sweet white lupin varieties were susceptible for anthracnose and fusarium diseases that occurred immediately after flowering. As a result imported commercial sweet white varieties failed to give seed yield. Developing adaptive, disease resistant and high yielding sweet white lupin through crossing the local and commercial varieties and looking for species specific inoculum should be the future research agendas.

Morpho-agronomic Characterization of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) Germplasm for Yield and Yield-associated Traits

Nepal possesses a rich diversity of cucumber landraces and their wild relatives. The first step towards harnessing the potential of these landraces in crop improvement programs is to identify the amount of genetic variation present among them. This research aimed to evaluate 18 cucumber accessions collected from different regions of Nepal and assess their agro-morphological variation in terms of yield and yield-associated traits under polyhouse condition. A research trial was conducted using Randomized Complete Block Design with two replicates at the National Agriculture Genetic Resources Centre (NAGRC), Khumaltar in 2019. The accessions were characterized using various qualitative and quantitative descriptors, with six focusing on traits related to the fruits of the plant and three on phenology and morphology. The results revealed significant variations among the genotypes for all studied traits. Bhaktapur Local was an excellent genotype for recording yield and associated traits, like fruit dimension, number of fruits per plant and yield per plant, making it the most promising genotype, however, Genebank accessions, such as NGRC08671, NGRC07716 and NGRC08668 could be excellent choices for yield associated traits. Correlation analysis indicated a positive relationship between yield and fruit length, fruit width, and total number of fruits per plant, while vine length was positively correlated with the total number of fruits produced per plant. This study identified several genotypes with desirable traits for yield and yield-associated characteristics, which could be valuable in the development of high-yielding cucumber varieties with superior morphological and agronomic traits in the future.
 Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 11(1): 30-36.

Mitochondrial markers differentiate two distinct phylogenetic groups in indigenous rice landraces of northeast India: an evolutionary insight

The inheritance of the mitochondria genome and its diversity is unique for genetic and evolutionary studies relative to nuclear genomes. Northeast India and Himalayan regions are considered as one of the centres of indica rice origin. Also, rice diversity in northeast India is very distinct and highly suited for evolutionary studies. Although reports are available on the genetic diversity of indigenous northeast rice landraces, its relationship with the wild relatives is not yet properly explored and understood. In an attempt, mitochondrial markers were used to study the evolutionary relationship between the 68 landraces of northeast India and wild relatives (O. rufipogon and O. nivara) along with IR64 (indica) and Nipponbare (japonica) were taken as reference cultivars. Phylogenetically, the findings include two distinct clusters in the indigenous northeast India landraces representing indica and japonica groups. Further, the wild relatives and ~60% of northeast India landraces were identified to be closely related to the Nipponbare cluster. Besides, landraces of northeast India grouping with the indica group (IR64) are characterized by the absence of wild relatives. This indicates that there are two distinct evolutionary paths in the origin of northeast Indian rice landraces based on mitochondrial markers diversity and it is proposed that the inheritance of mitochondria, mitonuclear genome interactions, and bottleneck events could have genetically separated these two phylogenetically unique groups of northeast rice landraces.

Are Portuguese Cowpea Genotypes Adapted to Drought? Phenological Development and Grain Quality Evaluation.

Along with population growth, global climate change represents a critical threat to agricultural production, compromising the goal of achieving food and nutrition security for all. It is urgent to create sustainable and resilient agri-food systems capable of feeding the world without debilitating the planet. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) refers to pulses as a superfood, as one of the most nutritious crops with high health benefits. Considered to be low-cost, many can be produced in arid lands and have an extended shelf-life. Their cultivation helps reduce greenhouse gases and increases carbon sequestration, also improving soil fertility. Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. is particularly drought tolerant, with a wide diversity of landraces adapted to different environments. Considering the importance of knowing and valuing the genetic variability of this species in Portugal, this study assessed the impact of drought on four landraces of cowpea (L1 to L4) from different regions of the country and a national commercial variety (CV) as a reference. The development and evaluation of morphological characteristics were monitored in response to terminal drought (imposed during the reproductive phase), and its effects were evaluated on the yield and quality of the produced grain, namely the weight of 100 grains, color, protein content, and soluble sugars. Under drought conditions, the landraces L1 and L2 showed early maturation as a strategy to avoid water deficit. Morphological alteration of the aerial part of the plants was evident in all genotypes, with a rapid reduction in the number of leaves and a reduction in the number of flowers and pods by between 44 and 72%. The parameters of grain quality, the weight of 100 grains, color, protein, and soluble sugars did not vary significantly, except for sugars of the raffinose family that is associated with the adaptive mechanisms of plants to drought. The performance and maintenance of the evaluated characteristics reflect the adaptation acquired in the past by exposure to the Mediterranean climate, highlighting the potential agronomic and genetic value, still little exploited, that could contribute to production stability, preserved nutritional value, and food safety under water stress.

Diversity and traditional knowledge of pulque agave landraces in the community of San Pedro Tlalcuapan, Tlaxcala, Mexico

There is scarce information available about how peasants recognize Agave landraces. This study aims to identify the agave species and landraces used for “pulque” production and analyze their morphological variability in a Nahualt community, San Pedro Tlacuapan (SPT), Tlaxcala, Mexico. To this end, we used traditional knowledge and conventional statistical methods. Semi-structured interviews were administered; from these, the frequency of mentions, lexical marking, and perception about each landrace were evaluated. A total of 36 morphological vegetative characters were measured in the main landraces, and ordination analyses (PCA) were performed. SPT is home to 8 landraces of Agave americana and Agave salmiana subsp. salmiana. “Manso” was the most frequently mentioned landrace, and 5 qualitative characters used by local experts to identify landraces were observed. One morphological cluster was associated with each landrace analyzed, and the variables characterizing them are rosette size, leaf shape, number of leaves, and tooth shape. The information about agave diversity from local experts can be integrated into measurements of morphological diversity through conventional statistical methods.

Genetic divergence studies for yield and quality traits in high protein landraces of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The present study was undertaken to study the extent of genetic diversity in high protein rice landraces with respect to yield, yield components and quality characters. In this direction, 30 high protein rice landraces, collected from different parts of country by ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (ICAR-IIRR), Hyderabad along with the high protein check, CR DHAN 310 were evaluated during Kharif 2021 at ICAR-IIRR farm located at International Crops Research Institute of Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad. The study examined the genetic divergence of high protein rice cultures for yield, quality and nutritional parameters. Multivariate analysis techniques of Mahalanobis D2 and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to estimate the genetic diversity in the experimental material. In Mahalanobis D2, the 31 high protein rice cultures were divided into six clusters. Cluster I had highest number of rice cultures (19), followed by Cluster III and V with five, four cultures, respectively. The clusters, II, IV, VI were mono-genotypic. It was discovered that grouping of these cultures into several clusters was random and was not related to geographical diversity. Inter-cluster distances between clusters V and VI were maximum. Cluster V had also exhibited higher intra-cluster distance. Further, Cluster VI had showed maximum yield plant-1, grains per panicle-1, zinc content and test weight, while, Cluster V had recorded high protein content. The greatest contribution to genetic divergence was recorded by yield plant-1 (21.60%), followed by iron (10.54%) and zinc content (9.54%). In Principal Component Analysis, the first five Principal Components (PCs) with eigen values >1 accounted for cumulative contribution of 67.69% to the total variability. The three traits, yield plant-1, iron content, and amylose content contributed the most to variability. The 2D scatter diagram exhibited 18 different clusters, out of which 11 clusters were mono-genotypic. Mahalanobis D2 Statistic and PCA concluded maximum genetic diversity between the landraces, JAK 248-3 and JAK 638 with JAK 611.

Unravelling genetic diversity of South Indian rice landraces based on yield and its components

Traditional varieties are considered as key natural resources necessary to maintain future food security in the current climate change era. Conserving these traditional varieties are the need of the hour as they harbour many valuable genes which could be exploited for crop breeding. Genetic diversity for morphological traits in a population can be assessed using a variety of techniques, including univariate and multivariate analysis. A diverse panel of 60 traditional landraces of rice was evaluated for 14 the pattern of genetic diversity and relationship based on morphological traits by multivariate analysis like Mahalanobis’ D2 and principal component analyses and correlation analysis was utilized to examine the association among morphological traits. The 60 genotypes were grouped in to eight clusters based on cluster analysis. Principal component analysis revealed that the cumulative variance of 74.41 % of total variation among 14 characters was explained by the first five axes. Study of association among traits indicated that direct selection based on the traits such as number of grains per panicle, flag leaf length, kernel length, length to breadth ratio and hundred seed weight would be the traits of top priority for yield improvement in rice. Keywords: Traditional landraces, Rice, Variability, Multivariate analysis

Diversity in Indian wheat (T. aestivumL.) germplasm for various agro-morphological traits

AbstractA better understanding of diversity in landraces is essential for planning crosses for the development of trait specific varieties with better adaptability and stability. In the present study, 120 wheat genotypes comprised of landraces, genetic stocks, released varieties and improved genotypes were evaluated in randomized block design for 14 agro-morphological traits. The clustering method and principal component analysis (PCA) programme of Statistical Package for Agricultural Research (SPAR1) was used for grouping the genotypes. These 120 genotypes were grouped into nine clusters based on agro-morphological traits. These nine clusters differed significantly on the basis of mean values for 14 agro-morphological traits. PCA showed that the two principal components (PC1 to PC2) exhibited about 49% of the total variability. Scatter plot was constructed by plotting scores of PC1 and PC2. Based on mean values obtained over two years, the diverse superior genotypes were identified for utilization in hybridization programme. From the present study, we conclude that cluster analysis grouped the landraces with greater agro-morphological similarity into one group rather than geographical isolation indicating that geographical origin may not be the only factor causing diversity. Further, released varieties exhibited superiority for grain yield, while many landraces had higher values for number of tillers in a meter, biomass and thousand-grain weight (TGW). Thus, for the improvement in TGW in released varieties, the hybridization between superior landraces for TGW from cluster ‘E’ and released wheat varieties from cluster ‘C’ could give desirable segregates.

Uncovering the genetic basis for quality traits in the Mediterranean old wheat germplasm and phenotypic and genomic prediction assessment by cross-validation test.

The release of new wheat varieties is based on two main characteristics, grain yield and quality, to meet the consumer's demand. Identifying the genetic architecture for yield and key quality traits has wide attention for genetic improvement to meet the global requirement. In this sense, the use of landraces represents an impressive source of natural allelic variation. In this study, a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) with PCA and kinship matrix was performed to detect QTLs in bread wheat for fifteen quality and agronomic traits using 170 diverse landraces from 24 Mediterranean countries in two years of field trials. A total of 53 QTL hotspots containing 165 significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) were located across the genome for quality and agronomical traits except for chromosome 2D. The major specific QTL hotspots for quality traits were QTL_3B.3 (13 MTAs with a mean PVE of 8.2%) and QTL_4A.3 (15 MTAs, mean PVE of 11.0%), and for yield-related traits were QTL_2B.1 (8 MTAs, mean PVE of 7.4%) and QTL_4B.2 (5 MTAs, mean PVE of 10.0%). A search for candidate genes (CG) identified 807 gene models within the QTL hotspots. Ten of these CGs were expressed specifically in grain supporting the role of identified QTLs in Landraces, associated to bread wheat quality traits and grain formation. A cross-validation approach within the collection was performed to calculate the accuracies of genomic prediction for quality and agronomical traits, ranging from -0.03 to 0.64 for quality and 0.46 to 0.65 for agronomic traits. In addition, five prediction equations using the phenotypic data were developed to predict bread loaf volume in landraces. The prediction ability varied from 0.67 to 0.82 depending on the complexity of the traits considered to predict loaf volume.

Effect of Abiotic Stress on Plant Growth and Development, Physiological and Breeding Strategies to Overcome Stress Condition

Abiotic stress is a significant factor in “climate change,” a complex phenomena with several unpredictable negative repercussions onthe environment. Abiotic stress alters the continuity between soil and plant atmosphere, reducing the yield of several essential crops.Abiotic stress now poses a considerable obstacle to plant development, and it will certainly worsen as desertification spreads acrossa larger section of the planet’s land area. The agriculture sector is significantly impacted by the weather and environment. Traditionalfarming methods and the food production required to sustain the nation’s growing population might be threatened by climate change.Improved cultivars created via breeding for a greater harvest index and disease tolerance were readily embraced during this periodof relatively consistent weather. Extreme climatic variability is projected due to climate change in this century. In many nations thatproduce crops, the agricultural climate will likely be warmer with more unpredictable rainfall, and stress spikes will be more severe. Tomaintain a growing population, agricultural productivity must be increased under more unfavourable environmental conditions. UsingGPS locators and climatic data from across the world, it is now feasible to comprehensively examine the genetic diversity in ancientlocal landraces to characterise the natural selection for local adaptation and to identify potential germplasm for tolerances to highstresses . With the use of candidate gene techniques and next generation sequencing, the physiological and biochemical componentsof these manifestations may be genomically examined. Wild relatives of crops possess practically untapped genetic diversity for abioticand biotic stress tolerances and may greatly improve the domesticated gene pools presently available as a survival omics strategy toassist crops endure the expected extremes of climate change. It is an issue to increase agricultural productivity in the face of climatechange. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to combine a number of disciplines, including eco-geographical assessments of geneticresources, modern advances in genomics, agronomy, and farm management, all of which are backed by knowledge of how genotypeenvironmentinteraction affects crop climate adaptability.

The genomic and bioclimatic characterization of Ethiopian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) unveils challenges and opportunities to adapt to a changing climate.

The climate crisis is impacting agroecosystems and threatening food security of millions of smallholder farmers. Understanding the potential for current and future climatic adaptation of local crop agrobiodiversity may guide breeding efforts and support resilience of agriculture. Here, we combine a genomic and climatic characterization of a large collection of traditional barley varieties from Ethiopia, a staple for local smallholder farmers cropping in challenging environments. We find that the genomic diversity of barley landraces can be partially traced back to geographic and environmental diversity of the landscape. We employ a machine learning approach to model Ethiopian barley adaptation to current climate and to identify areas where its existing diversity may not be well adapted in future climate scenarios. We use this information to identify optimal trajectories of assisted migration compensating to detrimental effects of climate change, finding that Ethiopian barley diversity bears opportunities for adaptation to the climate crisis. We then characterize phenology traits in the collection in two common garden experiments in Ethiopia, using genome-wide association approaches to identify genomic loci associated with timing of flowering and maturity of the spike. We combine this information with genotype-environment associations finding that loci involved in flowering time may also explain environmental adaptation. Our data show that integrated genomic, climatic, and phenotypic characterizations of agrobiodiversity may provide breeding with actionable information to improve local adaptation in smallholder farming systems.

On-farm diversity, use pattern, and conservation of enset (Ensete ventricosum) genetic resources in southern Ethiopia

BackgroundEnset is an important source of food and is consumed by about 25 million people as a staple or co-staple food crop mainly in southern parts of Ethiopia. Large numbers of enset landraces exist in different administrative zones of Ethiopia with a wide range of altitudes and agroclimatic zones. However, limited information is available on the diversity, distribution, and utilization pattern corresponding to the diverse ethnolinguistic as well as sociocultural communities of the country. Hence, this study was devised to explore and document the richness of farmers’ tradition and practice on the diversity and distribution of enset landraces on the farm level and selection pattern for different purposes regarding the production, utilization, and conservation of enset genetic resources.MethodsThe study was conducted in four major enset-growing administrative zones of Ethiopia, namely Hadiya, Kembata-Tembaro, Gurage, and Silte. A total of 240 farm households were surveyed using individual interviews, 18 key informant interviews, 36 focus group discussions with 5 participants, and direct on-farm field observations for data collection. Considering that enset has a rich cultural background and indigenous knowledge, ethnobotanical research approach was applied to data collection and analysis. The Shannon–Weaver, Simpson, Pielou, and Jaccard’s similarity indices were used to evaluate the diversity and similarity of the landraces as well as using descriptive statistics in SPSS Ver. 24. Preference in direct matrix ranking was also used to compute and rank the enset landraces most preferred by the people in the context of specific use value in the study area.ResultsA total of 282 farmer-named enset landraces have been identified, with a range from 2 to 32 on individual homegardens. The largest number of landraces was found in the Hadiya Zone (86), while the lowest was scored in the Silte Zone (57). The Shannon diversity index (H') ranged from 3.73 (Silte) to 3.96 (Hadiya). Similarly, landraces revealed a very narrow range of variances in Simpson’s 1-D diversity index, and it ranged from 0.963 (Silte) to 0.978 (Hadiya). Likewise, the similarity index ranged from 0.24 to 0.73 sharing 16–47 landraces in common. Of the 282 landraces, 210 (74.5%) were recorded in more than one zones, whereas 72 (25.5%) had narrow distribution being restricted to a single zone.ConclusionsFarmers have established long-term practices and experiences in cultivation, utilization, and conservation of a diverse group of enset landraces to fill their domestic and market purposes in each zone. The variation is likely to be related to agroclimatic differences, ethnicity factors, food cultures, and historical backgrounds. Therefore, to facilitate on-farm conservation as well as sustainable utilization of the enset genetic resources, farmers need to be supported by different stakeholders for all their worth and also in crop improvement programs.

Genetic diversity and population structure of barley landraces from Southern Ethiopia's Gumer district: Utilization for breeding and conservation.

Barley is the fifth most important food crop in Ethiopia. The genetic relationship and population structure studies of barley are limited to gene bank collections. Therefore, this study fills a gap by investigating the selection, consumption, economic value, genetic diversity, and population structure of farm-collected barley from the Gumer district of the Gurage Zone, which has received little attention. The information on the use of barley in the study area was collected using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. 124 households of 11 kebeles, the smallest community unit, were interviewed. Barley landraces collected were compared with those collected from Japan, the United States (USA), and other Ethiopian locations. Illumina iSelect (50K genotyping platform) was used to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) (20,367). Thirty landraces were found in Gumer. Burdaenadenber had the highest on-farm Shannon index estimate (2.0), followed by Aselecha (1.97) and Enjefo (1.95). Aselecha and Fetazer had the highest (44%) and the lowest (29%) richness values, respectively. High and low Simpson index values were found in Aselecha (84%) and Wulbaragenateretero (79%), respectively. The neighbor-joining tree revealed that Gumer landraces formed a separate subcluster with a common ancestral node; a sister subcluster contained barley landraces from Japan. According to the population structure analysis, barley landraces from Gumer differed from Japan and the United States. The principal component analysis revealed that US barley was the most distant group from Gumer barley. The markers' allele frequencies ranged from 0.10 to 0.50, with an average value of 0.28. The mean values of Nei's gene diversity (0.38) and the polymorphic information content (0.30) indicated the presence of high genetic diversity in the samples. The clustering of accessions was not based on geographic origin. Significant genetic diversity calls for additional research and analysis of local barley diversity because the selection and use of barley in Ethiopia would have been affected by the preference of ethnic groups.

On-farm genetic diversity of wheat (Triticum aestivum spp.) in Digalu Tijo District, Arsi zone, Ethiopia

On-farm genetic diversity is the relative distribution of plant species. This study was undertaken to assess the on-farm genetic diversity of wheat Landraces (Triticum aestivum spp) in Digalu and Tijo District. For this study, three farmer households' kebeles were selected by cluster sampling (area sampling) method because they are found in the most dominant wheat landraces growing agro ecological areas. Data for this study was collected using questionnaires, field observation, interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis. In total, 27 wheat landraces were reported to be grown two decades ago to the present day. Of these, only 9 wheat landraces are still cultivated by farmers. Among these, ‘Qamadi guracha’ is the most common growing landraces in the study area. The Shannon diversity index (H′) of growing wheat landraces ranges from 1.09 to 1.37 among the groups. The estimated genetic erosion for wheat landraces was found to be 66.7% due to the major factors: improved wheat varieties; the introduction of other more productive crops and wheat landraces low productivity. Food quality, Pests (for example, birds), disease resistance, market value, and straw quality were factors that initiated the farmers to maintain the genetic diversity of landraces on their farmlands. However, the preservation of wheat landraces is influenced by bottlenecks like the seed selection system, and insufficient crop yield. Regeneration of soil fertility, restoration of lost landraces, improvement of landraces, on-farm conservation by re-sowing, saving of seeds for the future, and ex-situ conservation are suggested for the restoration of wheat landraces diversity in Digalu and Tijo District.

Genotypic diversity and abiotic stress response profiling of short-grain aromatic landraces of rice (Oryza sativa L. Indica)

This study evaluated the physiological responses and genetic diversity of selected short-grain aromatic rice landraces of Northern Eastern Ghats of India to multiple abiotic stresses. Results revealed that drought, salt and flooding stress remarkably declined plant biomass, relative growth index (RGI), relative water content (RWC), leaf photosynthesis, PSII activity, SPAD relative index, and elevated effect was found in susceptible IR64 (susceptible check) variety. We employed molecular marker analysis to characterize 21 rice genotypes using 32 SSR primers related to drought, flooding and salinity tolerance QTLs. Our analysis suggests significantly high polymorphism (93.12%) in 96 loci. The mean value of polymorphism information content (PIC), marker index (MI) and resolving power (RP) and heterozygosity index (HI) were 0.326, 1.037, 1.558 and 0.420 respectively. The Jaccard’s similarity coefficient ranged from 0.158 to 0.846 with a mean genetic dissimilarity of 0.647. According to neighbor-joining method of clustering, all genotypes were grouped into two major and five sub-clusters which is concurrent with a very broad genetic base (K = 5) obtained with STRUCTURE analysis. Taken together, six aromatic genotypes Basubhoga, Dudhamani, Kalajeera, Laktimachi, Kuyerkuling and Tulasi are genetically very close to drought-tolerant (N22) and flooding tolerant (FR13A) cultivar whereas, salt-tolerant (Pokkali) very close to Sapuri and Muktabali. The degree of genetic variants obtained from this profiling could be useful for landrace conservation, selection and global implications for multiple abiotic stress tolerance.