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Zhao B, Wang JW. Perenniality: From model plants to applications in agriculture. MOLECULAR PLANT 2024; 17:141-157. [PMID: 38115580 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2023.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
To compensate for their sessile nature, plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms enabling them to adapt to ever-changing environments. One such prominent feature is the evolution of diverse life history strategies, particularly such that annuals reproduce once followed by seasonal death, while perennials live longer by cycling growth seasonally. This intrinsic phenology is primarily genetic and can be altered by environmental factors. Although evolutionary transitions between annual and perennial life history strategies are common, perennials account for most species in nature because they survive well under year-round stresses. This proportion, however, is reversed in agriculture. Hence, perennial crops promise to likewise protect and enhance the resilience of agricultural ecosystems in response to climate change. Despite significant endeavors that have been made to generate perennial crops, progress is slow because of barriers in studying perennials, and many developed species await further improvement. Recent findings in model species have illustrated that simply rewiring existing genetic networks can lead to lifestyle variation. This implies that engineering plant life history strategy can be achieved by manipulating only a few key genes. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of genetic basis of perenniality and discuss major questions and challenges that remain to be addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Zhao
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jia-Wei Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China; School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China; Key Laboratory of Plant Carbon Capture, CAS, Shanghai 200032, China; New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Shanghai 200032, China.
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Gao L, Kantar MB, Moxley D, Ortiz-Barrientos D, Rieseberg LH. Crop adaptation to climate change: An evolutionary perspective. MOLECULAR PLANT 2023; 16:1518-1546. [PMID: 37515323 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2023.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
The disciplines of evolutionary biology and plant and animal breeding have been intertwined throughout their development, with responses to artificial selection yielding insights into the action of natural selection and evolutionary biology providing statistical and conceptual guidance for modern breeding. Here we offer an evolutionary perspective on a grand challenge of the 21st century: feeding humanity in the face of climate change. We first highlight promising strategies currently under way to adapt crops to current and future climate change. These include methods to match crop varieties with current and predicted environments and to optimize breeding goals, management practices, and crop microbiomes to enhance yield and sustainable production. We also describe the promise of crop wild relatives and recent technological innovations such as speed breeding, genomic selection, and genome editing for improving environmental resilience of existing crop varieties or for developing new crops. Next, we discuss how methods and theory from evolutionary biology can enhance these existing strategies and suggest novel approaches. We focus initially on methods for reconstructing the evolutionary history of crops and their pests and symbionts, because such historical information provides an overall framework for crop-improvement efforts. We then describe how evolutionary approaches can be used to detect and mitigate the accumulation of deleterious mutations in crop genomes, identify alleles and mutations that underlie adaptation (and maladaptation) to agricultural environments, mitigate evolutionary trade-offs, and improve critical proteins. Continuing feedback between the evolution and crop biology communities will ensure optimal design of strategies for adapting crops to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lexuan Gao
- CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Michael B Kantar
- Department of Tropical Plant & Soil Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Dylan Moxley
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos
- School of Biological Sciences and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Loren H Rieseberg
- Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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Hjertaas AC, Preston JC, Kainulainen K, Humphreys AM, Fjellheim S. Convergent evolution of the annual life history syndrome from perennial ancestors. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 13:1048656. [PMID: 36684797 PMCID: PMC9846227 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1048656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Despite most angiosperms being perennial, once-flowering annuals have evolved multiple times independently, making life history traits among the most labile trait syndromes in flowering plants. Much research has focused on discerning the adaptive forces driving the evolution of annual species, and in pinpointing traits that distinguish them from perennials. By contrast, little is known about how 'annual traits' evolve, and whether the same traits and genes have evolved in parallel to affect independent origins of the annual syndrome. Here, we review what is known about the distribution of annuals in both phylogenetic and environmental space and assess the evidence for parallel evolution of annuality through similar physiological, developmental, and/or genetic mechanisms. We then use temperate grasses as a case study for modeling the evolution of annuality and suggest future directions for understanding annual-perennial transitions in other groups of plants. Understanding how convergent life history traits evolve can help predict species responses to climate change and allows transfer of knowledge between model and agriculturally important species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ane C. Hjertaas
- Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Jill C. Preston
- Department of Plant Biology, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States
| | - Kent Kainulainen
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Aelys M. Humphreys
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Siri Fjellheim
- Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
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Chapman EA, Thomsen HC, Tulloch S, Correia PMP, Luo G, Najafi J, DeHaan LR, Crews TE, Olsson L, Lundquist PO, Westerbergh A, Pedas PR, Knudsen S, Palmgren M. Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:898769. [PMID: 35968139 PMCID: PMC9372509 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.898769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Perennial grain crops could make a valuable addition to sustainable agriculture, potentially even as an alternative to their annual counterparts. The ability of perennials to grow year after year significantly reduces the number of agricultural inputs required, in terms of both planting and weed control, while reduced tillage improves soil health and on-farm biodiversity. Presently, perennial grain crops are not grown at large scale, mainly due to their early stages of domestication and current low yields. Narrowing the yield gap between perennial and annual grain crops will depend on characterizing differences in their life cycles, resource allocation, and reproductive strategies and understanding the trade-offs between annualism, perennialism, and yield. The genetic and biochemical pathways controlling plant growth, physiology, and senescence should be analyzed in perennial crop plants. This information could then be used to facilitate tailored genetic improvement of selected perennial grain crops to improve agronomic traits and enhance yield, while maintaining the benefits associated with perennialism.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sophia Tulloch
- Department of Raw Materials, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Pedro M. P. Correia
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Guangbin Luo
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Javad Najafi
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | | | | | - Lennart Olsson
- Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, Lund, Sweden
| | - Per-Olof Lundquist
- Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology in Uppsala, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Westerbergh
- Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology in Uppsala, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Pai Rosager Pedas
- Department of Raw Materials, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Søren Knudsen
- Department of Raw Materials, Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Michael Palmgren
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
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