Founder Crops Research Articles

Barley2035: A decadal vision for barley research and breeding.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare) is one of the oldest founder crops in human civilizationand has been widely dispersed across the globe to support human society as a livestock feedand a raw material for the brewing industries. Since the early half of the 20th century, it has been used for innovative research on cytogenetics, biochemistry, and genetics, facilitated by its mode of reproduction through self-pollination and its true diploid status, which have contributed to the accumulation of numerous germplasm and mutant resources. In the era of molecular genomics and biology, a multitude of barley genes and their related regulatory mechanisms have been identified and functionally validated, providing a paradigm for equivalent studies in other Triticeae crops. This review highlights important advances on barley research over the past decade, focusing mainly on genomics and genomics-assisted germplasm exploration, genetic dissection of developmental and adaptation-related traits, and the complex dynamics of yield and quality formation. In the coming decade, the prospect of integrating these innovations in barley research and breeding shows great promise. Barley is proposed as a reference Triticeae cropfor the discovery and functional validation of new genes and the dissection of their molecular mechanisms. The application of precise genome editing as well as genomic prediction and selection, further enhanced by artificial intelligence-based tools and applications, is expected to promote barley improvementto efficiently meet the evolving global demands for this important crop.

Drought-tolerant wheat for enhancing global food security.

Wheat is among the most produced grain crops of the world and alone provides a fifth of the world's calories and protein. Wheat has played a key role in food security since the crop served as a Neolithic founder crop for the establishment of world agriculture. Projections showing a decline in global wheat yields in changing climates imply that food security targets could be jeopardized. Increased frequency and intensity of drought occurrence is evident in major wheat-producing regions worldwide, and notably, the wheat-producing area under drought is projected to swell globally by 60% by the end of the 21st century. Wheat yields are significantly reduced due to changes in plant morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular activities in response to drought stress. Advances in wheat genetics, multi-omics technologies and plant phenotyping have enhanced the understanding of crop responses to drought conditions. Research has elucidated key genomic regions, candidate genes, signalling molecules and associated networks that orchestrate tolerance mechanisms under drought stress. Robust and low-cost selection tools are now available in wheat for screening genetic variations for drought tolerance traits. New breeding techniques and selection tools open a unique opportunity to tailor future wheat crop with optimal trait combinations that help withstand extreme drought. Adoption of the new wheat varieties will increase crop diversity in rain-fed agriculture and ensure sustainable improvements in crop yields to safeguard the world's food security in drier environments.

A Systematic Review of Barley (Hordeum vulgare Linn.) in Unani Medicine with Recent Advances

Objective: The present review article focuses on exploring the wide dimensions of barley including botanical description, nutritional composition, phytochemistry, experimental pharmacology, and clinical studies along with its traditional uses in Unani medicine. Background: Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) which is referred to as ‘Jao’ in the Unani system of medicine has a long history of utilization as a food and medicine. It belongs to family Poaceae and is considered as one of the founder crops of old-world agriculture. Methodology: A manual literature survey of classical Unani texts was conducted to collect the information available on ‘Jao’. Besides, a comprehensive search of electronic databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct, was carried out to collect all the available information regarding its phytochemical, pharmacological and clinical studies. Result: In Unani medicine, barley is an important drug commonly used in many disorders of the respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, musculoskeletal system, skin, etc. It is used to treat obesity, diabetes, headache, pain and inflammation of the throat, acute swelling of joints and gout, chronic swellings, diarrhoea, fever, skin eruptions, hyperpigmentation of the skin, etc. Recent studies revealed that barley constitutes beta-glucan and a myriad of bioactive compounds that play numerous biological activities such as hypoglycemic, hypocholesterolemic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-obesity, anticancer, and wound healing activities. Conclusion: Barley is a potent drug that exhibits a wide range of health benefits, most of which have been confirmed via preclinical and clinical studies. This review may thus be helpful for the research community as well as common people to avail the benefits of this drug. Keywords: Barley, Beta-glucan, Hordeum vulgare, Jao, Unani medicine

Genetic erosion in domesticated barley and a hypothesis of a North African centre of diversity.

Barley is one of the founder crops of the Neolithic transition in West Asia. While recent advances in genomics have provided a rather detailed picture of barley domestication, there are contradictory views on how the domestication process affected genetic diversity. We set out to revisit this question by integrating public DNA sequencing data from ancient barley and wide collections of extant wild and domesticated accessions. Using two previously overlooked approaches - analyses of chloroplast genomes and genome-wide proportions of private variants - we found that the barley cultivated six millennia ago was genetically unique and more diverse when compared to extant landraces and cultivars. Moreover, the chloroplast genomes revealed a link between the ancient barley, an obscure wild genotype from north-eastern Libya, and a distinct population of barley cultivated in Ethiopia/Eritrea. Based on these results, we hypothesize past existence of a wider North African population that included both wild and cultivated types and suffered from genetic erosion in the past six millennia, likely due to a rapid desertification that ended the Holocene African humid period. Besides providing clues about the origin of Ethiopian landraces, the hypothesis explains the post-domestication loss of diversity observed in barley. Analyses of additional samples will be necessary to resolve the history of African barley and its contribution to the extant cultivated gene pool.

Obtainment of intraspecific hybrids in strictly cleistogamous Vicia ervilia (L.) Willd.

Bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia (L.) Willd.), one of the Near Eastern founder crops, is an annual cleistogamous legume domesticated during the Neolithic period. Originally used for human consumption, over time it was replaced by other pulses and downgraded to a fodder crop. When coupled with a small degree of cross hybridization, cleistogamy confers evolutive plasticity to the plant species. The aim of the present work consisted in setting up optimal conditions to overcome the existing cross hybridization barriers in V. ervilia. Genotypes of Turkish origin, characterized by an erect growth habit were crossed with Italian counterparts characterized by high seed production. A detailed cyto-histological analysis of flower development was undertaken to determine the optimal stage for emasculation and manual cross. Ninety-eight crosses were carried out and the hybrid nature of the putative F1 progenies was assessed by SSR (simple sequence repeat) DNA markers. Fifty-five seeds were obtained of which only five gave rise to hybrid plants. Among these, only three turned out to be fertile and two of which generated a consistent number of F2 seeds whose plants were assessed in greenhouse for seed production and plant growth habit. Most of the evaluated traits showed mean values of the F2 plants intermediate between the two initial parents, confirming that intraspecific hybridization is not only possible but also useful to exploit the diversity confined in different bitter vetch populations.

Mapping of a Recessive Gene for All-Stage Resistance to Stripe Rust in a Wheat Line Derived from Cultivated Einkorn (Triticum monococcum).

Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of wheat. Cultivated einkorn (Triticum monococcum L. ssp. monococcum, 2n = 2x = 14, AmAm), one of the founder crops of agriculture, harbors unexploited genetic sources for wheat improvement. An advanced wheat line, Z15-1949, with 42 chromosomes, selected from the hybrids of Pst-susceptible common wheat cultivar Crocus and resistant T. monococcum accession 10-1, exhibits high resistance to a mixture of the prevalent Chinese Pst races. Genetic analysis on F1, F2, and F2:3 generations of the cross between Z15-1949 and Pst-susceptible common wheat SY95-71 indicated that the resistance of Z15-1949 was conferred by a recessive gene, tentatively designated as YrZ15-1949. This gene was mapped to the short arm of chromosome 7D using the Wheat 55K single nucleotide polymorphism array, flanked by markers KASP-1949-2 and KASP-1949-10 within a 3.3-cM genetic interval corresponding to a 1.12-Mb physical region in the Chinese Spring reference genome V2.0. The gene differs from previously reported Yr genes on 7D based on their physical positions and is probably a novel gene. YrZ15-1949 would be a valuable resource for developing Pst-resistant wheat cultivars, and the linked markers could be used for marker-assisted selection.

The Founders project: evaluating the economic role of the ‘founder crops’ prior to the emergence of agriculture in southwest Asia

AbstractPrevious archaeobotanical research in Southwest Asia focused on the Neolithic ‘founder crops’. The Founders project revisits this concept and the economic role these species played in the development of agriculture. To achieve this aim, archaeological food remains are studied and culinary practices of the last hunter-gatherers and first farmers are evaluated.

Processing and storage of tree fruits, cereals and pulses at PPNA Sharara, southern Jordan

Recent excavations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site of Sharara (ca. 9250 cal bc) in southern Jordan have yielded a rich assemblage of charred macrobotanical remains. The bulk of this assemblage was recovered from a single structure at the settlement that was destroyed by fire and which appears to have functioned as an area for processing and possibly also for storing plant foods. Among the charred plant remains recovered from this space were nearly 700 fig fruits. Based on detailed archaeobotanical and contextual analyses, we infer that these were laid out to dry on the roof of the structure when it burnt down. We also demonstrate that plant exploitation and processing strategies at Sharara focused on a range of wild cereals, pulses and tree fruits (fig and pistachio), including several taxa that are not part of the canonical ‘Neolithic founder crop package’. We discuss our findings in relation to broader understandings of pre-agricultural plant management in southwest Asia and within the southern Levant specifically.

A graph-based genome and pan-genome variation of the model plant Setaria

Setaria italica (foxtail millet), a founder crop of East Asian agriculture, is a model plant for C4 photosynthesis and developing approaches to adaptive breeding across multiple climates. Here we established the Setaria pan-genome by assembling 110 representative genomes from a worldwide collection. The pan-genome is composed of 73,528 gene families, of which 23.8%, 42.9%, 29.4% and 3.9% are core, soft core, dispensable and private genes, respectively; 202,884 nonredundant structural variants were also detected. The characterization of pan-genomic variants suggests their importance during foxtail millet domestication and improvement, as exemplified by the identification of the yield gene SiGW3, where a 366-bp presence/absence promoter variant accompanies gene expression variation. We developed a graph-based genome and performed large-scale genetic studies for 68 traits across 13 environments, identifying potential genes for millet improvement at different geographic sites. These can be used in marker-assisted breeding, genomic selection and genome editing to accelerate crop improvement under different climatic conditions.

Revisiting the concept of the ‘Neolithic Founder Crops’ in southwest Asia

Zohary and Hopf coined the term ‘founder crops’ to refer to a specific group of eight plants, namely three cereals (einkorn, emmer and barley), four legumes (lentil, pea, bitter vetch and chickpea), and a fibre/oil crop (flax), that founded early Neolithic agriculture in southwest Asia. Zohary considered these taxa as the first cultivated and domesticated species, as well as those that agricultural communities exploited and eventually spread to Europe and other regions. As a result, these eight species soon become the hallmark of the Neolithic plant-based subsistence. However, the ‘founder crops’ concept was defined at the end of the 1980s, when the development of agriculture was considered a rapid event, and therefore, terms like domestication, agriculture and plant cultivation were used interchangeably in the literature. The aim of this paper is thus to revisit concept of the ‘Neolithic founder crops’. Through a critical review of the archaeobotanical evidence gathered in the last 40 years, we evaluate the relative contribution of the ‘eight founder crop’ species to the plant-based subsistence across different periods of the southwest Asian Neolithic. We conclude that multiple groups of ‘founder’ species could be defined depending on whether one seeks to represent the most exploited plants of the Neolithic period, the first cultivated and domesticated crops, or the species that agricultural communities cultivated and eventually spread to Europe. Improved understanding of Neolithic plant-based subsistence in general, and agriculture in particular, will be attained by moving beyond conventional narratives and exploring the evolutionary history of plants other than the original ‘founder’ species.

Mixtures of Commercial Lentil Cultivars Show Inconsistent Results on Agronomic Parameters but Positive Effects on Yield Stability

Cultivar mixtures are a useful tool to enhance cultivated biodiversity to buffer crop biotic and abiotic stresses. There are multiple pieces of evidence of mixture advantages in terms of pathogen control and increase in yield amount, stability and quality. Lentil represents a founder crop in the Mediterranean, yet it experiences strong yield fluctuations in the face of abiotic stresses. The present study aims to assess the mixing ability of four Italian commercial lentil lines in terms of yield amount and stability, nodule number, total lentil biomass and sensitivity to weeds. Since there is very limited information on lentil genotype traits, two-, three- and four-cultivar mixtures were designed with a trait-blind approach and compared to sole cultivars. The nodule number was mainly influenced by cultivar and weather; no interaction between cultivars was observed. Treatments were differently sensitive to weeds, but the effect of spatial heterogeneity prevailed over that of the cultivar. The average yield stability of all mixtures was significantly higher than pure stands, but in terms of yield amount, individual mixtures either outperformed or were outperformed by pure stands. Against our expectations, cultivar mixtures showed the most advantages in the most productive year: likely, the reason lies in the supposed low genetic diversity of commercial lentil lines in Italy. We encourage further research, taking into account the diversity of Italian lentil landraces, in order to gain a broader genetic base for the implementation of a trait-based approach, which may lead to better-performing mixtures.

Environmental effects on the spread of the Neolithic crop package to South Asia.

The emergence of Neolithic economies and their spread through Eurasia was one of the most crucial transitions of the Holocene, with different mechanisms of diffusion-demic, cultural-being proposed. While this phenomenon has been exhaustively studied in Europe, with repeated attempts to model the speed of Neolithic diffusion based on radiocarbon dates, much less attention has been devoted to the dispersal towards the East, and in particular to South Asia. The Neolithic in the latter region at least partly derived from southwest Asia, given the presence of "founder crops" such as wheat and barley. The process of their eastward diffusion, however, may have been significantly different to the westward dispersal, which was mainly due to demic diffusion, as local domesticates were already available and farming was already practiced in parts of South Asia. Here, we use radiocarbon dates specifically related to the spread of the southwest Asian Neolithic crops to model the speed of dispersal of this agricultural package towards South Asia. To assess potential geographical and environmental effects on the dispersal, we simulate different speeds depending on the biomes being crossed, employing a genetic algorithm to search for the values that most closely approach the radiocarbon dates. We find that the most important barrier to be crossed were the Zagros mountains, where the speed was lowest, possibly due to topography and climate. A large portion of the study area is dominated by deserts and shrublands, where the speed of advance, albeit closer to the range expected for demic diffusion, was lower than observed in Europe, which can also potentially be attributed to environmental constraints in the adaptation of the crops. Finally, a notable acceleration begins in the Indus valley, exceeding the range of demic diffusion in the tropical and subtropical environments east of the Indus. We propose that the latter is due to the rapid diffusion among populations already familiar with plant cultivation.

Genome-wide signatures in flax pinpoint to adaptive evolution along its ecological gradient

Background: Flax is one of the eight founder crops of agriculture. It is believed to have been domesticated as a long-day plant that has since spread to survive in a wide range of eco-geographic regions extending from the warm Indian subcontinent to the low latitude east African highlands and to the cool and high-latitude Eurasia. Understanding the genetic basis underlying its adaptation and selection events throughout its dispersion is essential to develop cultivars adapted to local environmental conditions. Methods: Here we detected genetic signatures of local adaptation and selection events of flax based on 385 accessions from all major flax growing regions of the world using genome scan methods and three genomic datasets: (1) a genome-wide dataset of more than 275K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), (2) a filtered dataset of 23K SNPs with minor allele frequency >10% and, (3) a 34K exon-derived SNP dataset. Results: Principal component (PC) and fixation index (FS⁢T)-based genome scans yielded consistent outlier SNP loci on chromosomes 1, 8, 9 and 12. Additional loci on chromosomes 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 14 were detected using both the PC and FS⁢T methods in two of the three datasets. A genome-environment association (GEA) analysis using the 23K dataset and the first PC of cropping season temperature, day-length and latitude identified significant SNPs on chromosomes 3, 7, 9 and 13. Conclusions: Most of the loci detected by the three methods harbored relevant genes for local adaptation, including some that play roles in day-length, light and other biotic and abiotic stresses responses. Such genetic signatures may help to select pre-breeding materials potentially adapted to specific growing niches prior to field performance trials. Given the current low genotyping cost and freely available environmental data, the genome scans along with GEA can readily provide opportunity to sort out materials suitable to various environmental conditions from large set of germplasm in gene banks and/or in situ, thereby assisting the breeding and genetic conservation efforts.

​Effects of Microbial Fertilizer and Vermicompost Applications on the Yield and Yield Related Parameters of Broad Bean (Vicia faba L.) under Eastern Mediterranean Highland Agroclimatic Conditions

Background: This study was conducted to determine the effects of microbial fertilizer and vermicompost applications on the yield and yield related parameters of broad beans (Vicia faba L.) under zero chemical fertilizer applied conditions. Trial area was a highland remote to sea under Mediterranean climate in South Eastern Anatolia of Turkey. It is located in fertile crescent and 180 km away to Karacadag Mountains (Diyarbakir) where Einkorn wheat (Aegilops monococcum L.) was first cultivated in history approximately ten thousand years ago. The broad bean was also among the founder crops of the Near East including the trial location. Methods: Rhizobium leguminosarum inoculant were used as microbial fertilizer in the experiments. Applied vermicompost doses were 0, 400, 800 and 1200 kg ha-1. The trials was conducted for two years and replicated thrice in a randomized block deign. Conclusion: Application of vermicompost was found significantly effective on the plant height, first pod height, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 grain weight and grain yield. Aapplication of 800 kg ha-1 and 120 kg ha-1 vermicompost along with Rhizobium leguminosarum inoculation was found superior for grain yield.

Episodes of gene flow and selection during the evolutionary history of domesticated barley

BackgroundBarley is one of the founder crops of Neolithic agriculture and is among the most-grown cereals today. The only trait that universally differentiates the cultivated and wild subspecies is ‘non-brittleness’ of the rachis (the stem of the inflorescence), which facilitates harvesting of the crop. Other phenotypic differences appear to result from facultative or regional selective pressures. The population structure resulting from these regional events has been interpreted as evidence for multiple domestications or a mosaic ancestry involving genetic interaction between multiple wild or proto-domesticated lineages. However, each of the three mutations that confer non-brittleness originated in the western Fertile Crescent, arguing against multiregional origins for the crop.ResultsWe examined exome data for 310 wild, cultivated and hybrid/feral barley accessions and showed that cultivated barley is structured into six genetically-defined groups that display admixture, resulting at least in part from two or more significant passages of gene flow with distinct wild populations. The six groups are descended from a single founding population that emerged in the western Fertile Crescent. Only a few loci were universally targeted by selection, the identity of these suggesting that changes in seedling emergence and pathogen resistance could represent crucial domestication switches. Subsequent selection operated on a regional basis and strongly contributed to differentiation of the genetic groups.ConclusionsIdentification of genetically-defined groups provides clarity to our understanding of the population history of cultivated barley. Inference of population splits and mixtures together with analysis of selection sweeps indicate descent from a single founding population, which emerged in the western Fertile Crescent. This founding population underwent relatively little genetic selection, those changes that did occur affecting traits involved in seedling emergence and pathogen resistance, indicating that these phenotypes should be considered as ‘domestication traits’. During its expansion out of the western Fertile Crescent, the crop underwent regional episodes of gene flow and selection, giving rise to a modern genetic signature that has been interpreted as evidence for multiple domestications, but which we show can be rationalized with a single origin.

Recent attestations of “new” glume wheat in Turkey: a reassessment of its role in the reconstruction of Neolithic agriculture

Studies of the origins of agriculture in the Near East have revealed that the eight plant species known as “Founder Crops”, i.e. emmer, einkorn, barley, lentils, peas, chickpeas, bitter vetch and flax, derived from annual self-pollinating wild predecessors, were all domesticated in roughly the same period. Recent research however has prompted new debate on whether there are really only eight “Founder Crops” species in the Near East. Interest has focused on “new” glume wheat (NGW), a Triticum species identified for the first time by de Moulins at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) site of Caferhoyuk in Eastern Anatolia. After this identification, similar remains were identified in Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Greece and were named “new” glume wheat. Recently, the remains of NGW spikelet bases have been documented in two settlements in Turkey: Yumuktepe (Cilicia) and Yenikapi (eastern Thrace). The remains of NGW spikelet bases from these two settlements underwent morphobiometric analysis in order to contribute to discussion of the morphological character of NGW spikelets. In addition, a whole NGW spikelet from Yenikapi was analysed, contributing to discussion of the morphological features of NGW caryopses. At the same time, these attestations open up new debate not only on its large-scale presence in Anatolia but also its origins and the ways and routes by which it spread to other regions. In this study, the two basic models of domestication and geographical expansion, i.e. the “rapid transition model” and the “protracted model”, are assessed on the basis of the new evidence of NGW in Turkey and the relationship with other European sites where it is attested.

New AMS 14C dates track the arrival and spread of broomcorn millet cultivation and agricultural change in prehistoric Europe

Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is not one of the founder crops domesticated in Southwest Asia in the early Holocene, but was domesticated in northeast China by 6000 bc. In Europe, millet was reported in Early Neolithic contexts formed by 6000 bc, but recent radiocarbon dating of a dozen 'early' grains cast doubt on these claims. Archaeobotanical evidence reveals that millet was common in Europe from the 2nd millennium bc, when major societal and economic transformations took place in the Bronze Age. We conducted an extensive programme of AMS-dating of charred broomcorn millet grains from 75 prehistoric sites in Europe. Our Bayesian model reveals that millet cultivation began in Europe at the earliest during the sixteenth century bc, and spread rapidly during the fifteenth/fourteenth centuries bc. Broomcorn millet succeeds in exceptionally wide range of growing conditions and completes its lifecycle in less than three summer months. Offering an additional harvest and thus surplus food/fodder, it likely was a transformative innovation in European prehistoric agriculture previously based mainly on (winter) cropping of wheat and barley. We provide a new, high-resolution chronological framework for this key agricultural development that likely contributed to far-reaching changes in lifestyle in late 2nd millennium bc Europe.

μCT trait analysis reveals morphometric differences between domesticated temperate small grain cereals and their wild relatives.

SummaryWheat and barley are two of the founder crops domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, and currently represent crops of major economic importance in temperate regions. Due to impacts on yield, quality and end‐use, grain morphometric traits remain an important goal for modern breeding programmes and are believed to have been selected for by human populations. To directly and accurately assess the three‐dimensional (3D) characteristics of grains, we combine X‐ray microcomputed tomography (μCT) imaging techniques with bespoke image analysis tools and mathematical modelling to investigate how grain size and shape vary across wild and domesticated wheat and barley. We find that grain depth and, to a lesser extent, width are major drivers of shape change and that these traits are still relatively plastic in modern bread wheat varieties. Significant changes in grain depth are also observed to be associated with differences in ploidy. Finally, we present a model that can accurately predict the wild or domesticated status of a grain from a given taxa based on the relationship between three morphometric parameters (length, width and depth) and suggest its general applicability to both archaeological identification studies and breeding programmes.

The genetic structure of flax illustrates environmental and anthropogenic selections that gave rise to its eco-geographical adaptation

Flax, one of the eight founder crops of agriculture, has been cultivated for its oil and/or fiber for millennia. Understanding genetic divergence and geographic origins of germplasm in line with their cultivation history and ecological adaptation are essential for conservation and breeding. Here we performed a genome-wide assessment based on more than 51,000 single nucleotide polymorphic sites defining 383 flax accessions from a core collection representing 37 flax growing countries. Population structure analysis resulted in a total of 12 populations that were pooled into four major groups: Temperate, South Asian, Abyssinian and Mediterranean. The vast majority (n = 335) belonged to the Temperate group that comprised eight populations including one dominated by fiber flax. Genetic variation between fiber and oil morphotypes was less pronounced than variation within morphotypes. The genetic variation among groups and populations was attributed in part to eco-geographic and anthropogenic factors. Genetic signatures indicated loci under strong selection by environmental factors such as day length. A high concentration of private haplotypes were observed in the South Asian, Mediterranean and Abyssinian populations despite their low genotype representation, hinting at the long history of the crop in these regions. The addition of genotypes from these three regions would enrich the core collection by capturing a wider genetic breadth for breeding and conservation.

Genome-wide association studies of molybdenum and selenium concentrations in C. arietinum and C. reticulatum seeds

Chickpea is the second most important and ancient pulse crop with its use in human diet for approximately 7500 years as one of the Neolithic founder crops. Previous studies on chickpea have predominantly focused on agronomic traits, with only limited research being dedicated to developing micronutrient-rich crops over the last half century. The objectives of this study were to identify genetic variation and population structure of Cicer reticulatum (C. reticulatum) and Cicer arietinum (C. arietinum) species and reveal marker-trait associations of seed molybdenum (Mo) and selenium (Se) concentrations in seeds by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). In this study, a population of 180 individuals including 107 wild (C. reticulatum) and 73 cultivated (C. arietinum) Cicer species was used in two different locations for 2 years, and 121,840 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) were identified across eight chromosomes through genotyping by sequencing (GBS) analysis. GWAS was performed for 180 individuals and alternatively two subpopulations separately, and 16 SNP markers were found significantly associated with seed Mo and Se concentrations, consistently among the four environments. The results demonstrated the high potential of GWAS mapping in revealing markers associated with Mo and Se micronutrients for wild (C. reticulatum) and cultivated (C. arietinum) species.