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Resende RT, Hickey L, Amaral CH, Peixoto LL, Marcatti GE, Xu Y. Satellite-enabled enviromics to enhance crop improvement. MOLECULAR PLANT 2024; 17:848-866. [PMID: 38637991 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2024.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
Enviromics refers to the characterization of micro- and macroenvironments based on large-scale environmental datasets. By providing genotypic recommendations with predictive extrapolation at a site-specific level, enviromics could inform plant breeding decisions across varying conditions and anticipate productivity in a changing climate. Enviromics-based integration of statistics, envirotyping (i.e., determining environmental factors), and remote sensing could help unravel the complex interplay of genetics, environment, and management. To support this goal, exhaustive envirotyping to generate precise environmental profiles would significantly improve predictions of genotype performance and genetic gain in crops. Already, informatics management platforms aggregate diverse environmental datasets obtained using optical, thermal, radar, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR)sensors that capture detailed information about vegetation, surface structure, and terrain. This wealth of information, coupled with freely available climate data, fuels innovative enviromics research. While enviromics holds immense potential for breeding, a few obstacles remain, such as the need for (1) integrative methodologies to systematically collect field data to scale and expand observations across the landscape with satellite data; (2) state-of-the-art AI models for data integration, simulation, and prediction; (3) cyberinfrastructure for processing big data across scales and providing seamless interfaces to deliver forecasts to stakeholders; and (4) collaboration and data sharing among farmers, breeders, physiologists, geoinformatics experts, and programmers across research institutions. Overcoming these challenges is essential for leveraging the full potential of big data captured by satellites to transform 21st century agriculture and crop improvement through enviromics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael T Resende
- Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Agronomy Department, Plant Breeding Sector, Goiânia (GO) 74690-900, Brazil; TheCROP, a Precision-Breeding Startup: Enviromics, Phenomics, and Genomics, No Zip-code, Operating Virtually, Goiânia (GO) and Sete Lagoas (MG), Brazil.
| | - Lee Hickey
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Cibele H Amaral
- Earth Lab, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA; Environmental Data Science Innovation & Inclusion Lab, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA
| | - Lucas L Peixoto
- Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Agronomy Department, Plant Breeding Sector, Goiânia (GO) 74690-900, Brazil
| | - Gustavo E Marcatti
- TheCROP, a Precision-Breeding Startup: Enviromics, Phenomics, and Genomics, No Zip-code, Operating Virtually, Goiânia (GO) and Sete Lagoas (MG), Brazil; Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei, Forest Engineering Department, Campus Sete Lagoas, Sete Lagoas (MG) 35701-970, Brazil
| | - Yunbi Xu
- Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Weifang, Shandong 261325, China; BGI Bioverse, Shenzhen 518083, China.
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Meng G, Rasmussen SK, Christensen CSL, Fan W, Torp AM. Molecular breeding of barley for quality traits and resilience to climate change. Front Genet 2023; 13:1039996. [PMID: 36685930 PMCID: PMC9851277 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1039996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Barley grains are a rich source of compounds, such as resistant starch, beta-glucans and anthocyanins, that can be explored in order to develop various products to support human health, while lignocellulose in straw can be optimised for feed in husbandry, bioconversion into bioethanol or as a starting material for new compounds. Existing natural variations of these compounds can be used to breed improved cultivars or integrated with a large number of mutant lines. The technical demands can be in opposition depending on barley's end use as feed or food or as a source of biofuel. For example beta-glucans are beneficial in human diets but can lead to issues in brewing and poultry feed. Barley breeders have taken action to integrate new technologies, such as induced mutations, transgenics, marker-assisted selection, genomic selection, site-directed mutagenesis and lastly machine learning, in order to improve quality traits. Although only a limited number of cultivars with new quality traits have so far reached the market, research has provided valuable knowledge and inspiration for future design and a combination of methodologies to achieve the desired traits. The changes in climate is expected to affect the quality of the harvested grain and it is already a challenge to mitigate the unpredictable seasonal and annual variations in temperature and precipitation under elevated [CO2] by breeding. This paper presents the mutants and encoded proteins, with a particular focus on anthocyanins and lignocellulose, that have been identified and characterised in detail and can provide inspiration for continued breeding to achieve desired grain and straw qualities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geng Meng
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark,College of Horticulture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Søren K. Rasmussen
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark,*Correspondence: Søren K. Rasmussen,
| | | | - Weiyao Fan
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Anna Maria Torp
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
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Cooper M, Messina CD. Breeding crops for drought-affected environments and improved climate resilience. THE PLANT CELL 2023; 35:162-186. [PMID: 36370076 PMCID: PMC9806606 DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koac321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Breeding climate-resilient crops with improved levels of abiotic and biotic stress resistance as a response to climate change presents both opportunities and challenges. Applying the framework of the "breeder's equation," which is used to predict the response to selection for a breeding program cycle, we review methodologies and strategies that have been used to successfully breed crops with improved levels of drought resistance, where the target population of environments (TPEs) is a spatially and temporally heterogeneous mixture of drought-affected and favorable (water-sufficient) environments. Long-term improvement of temperate maize for the US corn belt is used as a case study and compared with progress for other crops and geographies. Integration of trait information across scales, from genomes to ecosystems, is needed to accurately predict yield outcomes for genotypes within the current and future TPEs. This will require transdisciplinary teams to explore, identify, and exploit novel opportunities to accelerate breeding program outcomes; both improved germplasm resources and improved products (cultivars, hybrids, clones, and populations) that outperform and replace the products in use by farmers, in combination with modified agronomic management strategies suited to their local environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Carlos D Messina
- Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
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