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Williams K, Subramani M, Lofton LW, Penney M, Todd A, Ozbay G. Tools and Techniques to Accelerate Crop Breeding. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 13:1520. [PMID: 38891328 PMCID: PMC11174677 DOI: 10.3390/plants13111520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2024] [Revised: 05/25/2024] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
As climate changes and a growing global population continue to escalate the need for greater production capabilities of food crops, technological advances in agricultural and crop research will remain a necessity. While great advances in crop improvement over the past century have contributed to massive increases in yield, classic breeding schemes lack the rate of genetic gain needed to meet future demands. In the past decade, new breeding techniques and tools have been developed to aid in crop improvement. One such advancement is the use of speed breeding. Speed breeding is known as the application of methods that significantly reduce the time between crop generations, thereby streamlining breeding and research efforts. These rapid-generation advancement tactics help to accelerate the pace of crop improvement efforts to sustain food security and meet the food, feed, and fiber demands of the world's growing population. Speed breeding may be achieved through a variety of techniques, including environmental optimization, genomic selection, CRISPR-Cas9 technology, and epigenomic tools. This review aims to discuss these prominent advances in crop breeding technologies and techniques that have the potential to greatly improve plant breeders' ability to rapidly produce vital cultivars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krystal Williams
- Molecular Genetics and Epigenomics Laboratory, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Agriculture, Science, and Technology, Delaware State University, Dover, DE 19901, USA;
| | - Mayavan Subramani
- Molecular Genetics and Epigenomics Laboratory, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Agriculture, Science, and Technology, Delaware State University, Dover, DE 19901, USA;
| | - Lily W. Lofton
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA;
- Toxicology & Mycotoxin Research Unit, US National Poultry Research Center, USDA-ARS, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Miranda Penney
- Plant Breeding and Genetics Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA;
| | - Antonette Todd
- Molecular Genetics and Epigenomics Laboratory, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Agriculture, Science, and Technology, Delaware State University, Dover, DE 19901, USA;
| | - Gulnihal Ozbay
- One Health Laboratory, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Agriculture, Science, and Technology, Delaware State University, Dover, DE 19901, USA
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Hua K, Zhang J, Botella JR, Ma C, Kong F, Liu B, Zhu JK. Perspectives on the Application of Genome-Editing Technologies in Crop Breeding. MOLECULAR PLANT 2019; 12:1047-1059. [PMID: 31260812 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2019.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Revised: 06/23/2019] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Most conventional and modern crop-improvement methods exploit natural or artificially induced genetic variations and require laborious characterization of the progenies of multiple generations derived from time-consuming genetic crosses. Genome-editing systems, in contrast, provide the means to rapidly modify genomes in a precise and predictable way, making it possible to introduce improvements directly into elite varieties. Here, we describe the range of applications available to agricultural researchers using existing genome-editing tools. In addition to providing examples of genome-editing applications in crop breeding, we discuss the technical and social challenges faced by breeders using genome-editing tools for crop improvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Hua
- Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jinshan Zhang
- Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jose Ramon Botella
- School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Changle Ma
- Shandong Provincial Key Lab of Plant Stress, School of Life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Fanjiang Kong
- School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Baohui Liu
- School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jian-Kang Zhu
- Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
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Pathak RK, Baunthiyal M, Pandey D, Kumar A. Augmentation of crop productivity through interventions of omics technologies in India: challenges and opportunities. 3 Biotech 2018; 8:454. [PMID: 30370195 PMCID: PMC6195494 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-018-1473-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2018] [Accepted: 10/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
With the continuous increase in the population of developing countries and decline of natural resources, there is an urgent need to qualitatively and quantitatively augment crop productivity by using new tools and technologies for improvement of agriculturally important traits. The new scientific and technological omics-based approaches have enabled us to deal with several issues and challenges faced by modern agricultural system and provided us novel opportunities for ensuring food and nutritional security. Recent developments in sequencing techniques have made available huge amount of genomic and transcriptomic data on model and cultivated crop plants including Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Triticum aestivum etc. The sequencing data along with other data generated through several omics platforms have significantly influenced the disciplines of crop sciences. Gene discovery and expression profiling-based technologies are offering enormous opportunities to the scientific community which can now apply marker-assisted selection technology to assess and enhance diversity in their collected germplasm, introgress essential traits from new sources and investigate genes that control key traits of crop plants. Utilization of omics science and technologies for crop productivity, protection and management has recently been receiving a lot of attention; the majority of the efforts have been put into signifying the possible applications of various omics technologies in crop plant sciences. This article highlights the background of challenges and opportunities for augmentation of crop productivity through interventions of omics technologies in India.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajesh Kumar Pathak
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand 263145 India
- Department of Biotechnology, G. B. Pant Institute of Engineering and Technology, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand 246194 India
| | - Mamta Baunthiyal
- Department of Biotechnology, G. B. Pant Institute of Engineering and Technology, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand 246194 India
| | - Dinesh Pandey
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand 263145 India
| | - Anil Kumar
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand 263145 India
- Present Address: Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh 284003 India
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Talukder SK, Saha MC. Toward Genomics-Based Breeding in C3 Cool-Season Perennial Grasses. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2017; 8:1317. [PMID: 28798766 PMCID: PMC5526908 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2017] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Most important food and feed crops in the world belong to the C3 grass family. The future of food security is highly reliant on achieving genetic gains of those grasses. Conventional breeding methods have already reached a plateau for improving major crops. Genomics tools and resources have opened an avenue to explore genome-wide variability and make use of the variation for enhancing genetic gains in breeding programs. Major C3 annual cereal breeding programs are well equipped with genomic tools; however, genomic research of C3 cool-season perennial grasses is lagging behind. In this review, we discuss the currently available genomics tools and approaches useful for C3 cool-season perennial grass breeding. Along with a general review, we emphasize the discussion focusing on forage grasses that were considered orphan and have little or no genetic information available. Transcriptome sequencing and genotype-by-sequencing technology for genome-wide marker detection using next-generation sequencing (NGS) are very promising as genomics tools. Most C3 cool-season perennial grass members have no prior genetic information; thus NGS technology will enhance collinear study with other C3 model grasses like Brachypodium and rice. Transcriptomics data can be used for identification of functional genes and molecular markers, i.e., polymorphism markers and simple sequence repeats (SSRs). Genome-wide association study with NGS-based markers will facilitate marker identification for marker-assisted selection. With limited genetic information, genomic selection holds great promise to breeders for attaining maximum genetic gain of the cool-season C3 perennial grasses. Application of all these tools can ensure better genetic gains, reduce length of selection cycles, and facilitate cultivar development to meet the future demand for food and fodder.
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Zhang F, Zhang L, Cui F, Luo X, Zhou Y, Xie J. Identification of novel insertion-deletion markers for Dongxiang wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) using high-throughput sequencing technology. J Genet 2015; 94:e51-5. [PMID: 26419437 DOI: 10.1007/s12041-015-0556-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fantao Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, People's Republic of China.
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Langridge P, Reynolds MP. Genomic tools to assist breeding for drought tolerance. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2014; 32:130-135. [PMID: 25531270 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2014.11.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2014] [Accepted: 11/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Water deficit or drought stress is a major limitation to crop production globally. Plant breeders have used a wide range of technologies to successfully breed varieties that perform well under the growth conditions for their target environments but they are always seeking new opportunities to enhance rates of genetic gain. Under drought, yield is determined by the integration of variable levels of water deficit across the developmental life of the crop. Genomics technologies were seen as a path to understand the genetic and environmental complexity of drought stress. To be relevant to breeding programs, genomic studies must consider the nature of drought stress in the target environment and use plant material and phenotyping techniques that relate to field conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Langridge
- Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, University of Adelaide, Urrbrae SA 5064, Australia.
| | - Matthew P Reynolds
- International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, CIMMYT, El Batan 56130, Texcoco, Mexico
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Mazzio EA, Soliman KFA. Epigenetics and nutritional environmental signals. Integr Comp Biol 2014; 54:21-30. [PMID: 24861811 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icu049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
All terrestrial life is influenced by multi-directional flows of information about its environment, enabling malleable phenotypic change through signals, chemical processes, or various forms of energy that facilitate acclimatization. Billions of biological co-inhabitants of the earth, including all plants and animals, collectively make up a genetic/epigenetic ecosystem by which adaptation/survival (inputs and outputs) are highly interdependent on one another. As an ecosystem, the solar system, rotation of the planets, changes in sunlight, and gravitational pull influence cyclic epigenetic transitions and chromatin remodeling that constitute biological circadian rhythms controlling senescence. In humans, adverse environmental conditions such as poverty, stress, alcohol, malnutrition, exposure to pollutants generated from industrialization, man-made chemicals, and use of synthetic drugs can lead to maladaptive epigenetic-related illnesses with disease-specific genes being atypically activated or silenced. Nutrition and dietary practices are one of the largest facets in epigenetic-related metabolism, where specific "epi-nutrients" can stabilize the genome, given established roles in DNA methylation, histone modification, and chromatin remodeling. Moreover, food-based "epi-bioactive" constituents may reverse maladaptive epigenetic patterns, not only prior to conception and during fetal/early postnatal development but also through adulthood. In summary, in contrast to a static genomic DNA structure, epigenetic changes are potentially reversible, raising the hope for therapeutic and/or dietary interventions that can reverse deleterious epigenetic programing as a means to prevent or treat major illnesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Mazzio
- Florida A&M University, College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, 1520 S MLK Jr. Blvd Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
| | - Karam F A Soliman
- Florida A&M University, College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, 1520 S MLK Jr. Blvd Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
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