1
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DeHaan LR, Anderson JA, Bajgain P, Basche A, Cattani DJ, Crain J, Crews TE, David C, Duchene O, Gutknecht J, Hayes RC, Hu F, Jungers JM, Knudsen S, Kong W, Larson S, Lundquist PO, Luo G, Miller AJ, Nabukalu P, Newell MT, Olsson L, Palmgren M, Paterson AH, Picasso VD, Poland JA, Sacks EJ, Wang S, Westerbergh A. Discussion: Prioritize perennial grain development for sustainable food production and environmental benefits. Sci Total Environ 2023; 895:164975. [PMID: 37336402 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Perennial grains have potential to contribute to ecological intensification of food production by enabling the direct harvest of human-edible crops without requiring annual cycles of disturbance and replanting. Studies of prototype perennial grains and other herbaceous perennials point to the ability of agroecosystems including these crops to protect water quality, enhance wildlife habitat, build soil quality, and sequester soil carbon. However, genetic improvement of perennial grain candidates has been hindered by limited investment due to uncertainty about whether the approach is viable. As efforts to develop perennial grain crops have expanded in past decades, critiques of the approach have arisen. With a recent report of perennial rice producing yields equivalent to those of annual rice over eight consecutive harvests, many theoretical concerns have been alleviated. Some valid questions remain over the timeline for new crop development, but we argue these may be mitigated by implementation of recent technological advances in crop breeding and genetics such as low-cost genotyping, genomic selection, and genome editing. With aggressive research investment in the development of new perennial grain crops, they can be developed and deployed to provide atmospheric greenhouse gas reductions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee R DeHaan
- The Land Institute, 2440 E. Water Well Rd, Salina, KS 67401, USA.
| | - James A Anderson
- Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Prabin Bajgain
- Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Andrea Basche
- Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1875 N. 38th St, 279 PLSH, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915, USA
| | - Douglas J Cattani
- Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba, 66 Dafoe Rd, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Jared Crain
- Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, 1712 Claflin Rd, 4024 Throckmorton PSC, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Timothy E Crews
- The Land Institute, 2440 E. Water Well Rd, Salina, KS 67401, USA
| | - Christophe David
- ISARA, Agroecology and Environment Research Unit, 23 rue Jean Baldassini, 69364 Lyon, France
| | - Olivier Duchene
- ISARA, Agroecology and Environment Research Unit, 23 rue Jean Baldassini, 69364 Lyon, France
| | - Jessica Gutknecht
- Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Richard C Hayes
- NSW Department of Primary Industries, Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, Pine Gully Rd, NSW 2650, Australia
| | - Fengyi Hu
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Research Center of Perennial Rice Engineering and Technology in Yunnan, School of Agriculture, Yunnan University, 2 Cuihu N Rd, Wuhua District, Kunming 650106, China
| | - Jacob M Jungers
- Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Søren Knudsen
- Carlsberg Research Laboratory, J. C. Jacobsens Gade 4, 1799, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Steve Larson
- USDA-ARS, Forage and Range Research, 696 North 1100 East, Logan, UT 84321, USA
| | - Per-Olof Lundquist
- Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Center for Plant Biology in Uppsala, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7080, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Guangbin Luo
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Allison J Miller
- Saint Louis University, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N Warson Rd, Olivette, MO 63132, USA
| | - Pheonah Nabukalu
- NESPAL, University of Georgia, 2356 Rainwater Rd, Tifton, GA 31793, USA
| | - Matthew T Newell
- NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cowra Agricultural Research Station, 296 Binni Creek Rd, Cowra, NSW 2794, Australia
| | - Lennart Olsson
- Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies, P.O. Box 170, SE-221 Lund, Sweden
| | - Michael Palmgren
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | | | - Jesse A Poland
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Shuwen Wang
- The Land Institute, 2440 E. Water Well Rd, Salina, KS 67401, USA
| | - Anna Westerbergh
- Department of Plant Biology, Uppsala BioCenter, Linnean Center for Plant Biology in Uppsala, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7080, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
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2
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Eckardt NA, Ainsworth EA, Bahuguna RN, Broadley MR, Busch W, Carpita NC, Castrillo G, Chory J, DeHaan LR, Duarte CM, Henry A, Jagadish SVK, Langdale JA, Leakey ADB, Liao JC, Lu KJ, McCann MC, McKay JK, Odeny DA, Jorge de Oliveira E, Platten JD, Rabbi I, Rim EY, Ronald PC, Salt DE, Shigenaga AM, Wang E, Wolfe M, Zhang X. Climate change challenges, plant science solutions. Plant Cell 2023; 35:24-66. [PMID: 36222573 PMCID: PMC9806663 DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koac303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is a defining challenge of the 21st century, and this decade is a critical time for action to mitigate the worst effects on human populations and ecosystems. Plant science can play an important role in developing crops with enhanced resilience to harsh conditions (e.g. heat, drought, salt stress, flooding, disease outbreaks) and engineering efficient carbon-capturing and carbon-sequestering plants. Here, we present examples of research being conducted in these areas and discuss challenges and open questions as a call to action for the plant science community.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elizabeth A Ainsworth
- USDA ARS Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Rajeev N Bahuguna
- Centre for Advanced Studies on Climate Change, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Samastipur 848125, Bihar, India
| | - Martin R Broadley
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
- Rothamsted Research, West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK
| | - Wolfgang Busch
- Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
| | - Nicholas C Carpita
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
| | - Gabriel Castrillo
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
- Future Food Beacon of Excellence, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Joanne Chory
- Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
| | | | - Carlos M Duarte
- Red Sea Research Center (RSRC) and Computational Bioscience Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Amelia Henry
- International Rice Research Institute, Rice Breeding Innovations Platform, Los Baños, Laguna 4031, Philippines
| | - S V Krishna Jagadish
- Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79410, USA
| | - Jane A Langdale
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK
| | - Andrew D B Leakey
- Department of Plant Biology, Department of Crop Sciences, and Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - James C Liao
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11528, Taiwan
| | - Kuan-Jen Lu
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11528, Taiwan
| | - Maureen C McCann
- Biosciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA
| | - John K McKay
- Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
| | - Damaris A Odeny
- The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics–Eastern and Southern Africa, Gigiri 39063-00623, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | - J Damien Platten
- International Rice Research Institute, Rice Breeding Innovations Platform, Los Baños, Laguna 4031, Philippines
| | - Ismail Rabbi
- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), PMB 5320 Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
| | - Ellen Youngsoo Rim
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
| | - Pamela C Ronald
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
- Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94704, USA
| | - David E Salt
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
- Future Food Beacon of Excellence, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Alexandra M Shigenaga
- Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
| | - Ertao Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Marnin Wolfe
- Auburn University, Dept. of Crop Soil and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture, Auburn, Alabama 36849, USA
| | - Xiaowei Zhang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
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3
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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. Front Plant Sci 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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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4
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Van Tassel DL, DeHaan LR, Diaz-Garcia L, Hershberger J, Rubin MJ, Schlautman B, Turner K, Miller AJ. Re-imagining crop domestication in the era of high throughput phenomics. Curr Opin Plant Biol 2022; 65:102150. [PMID: 34883308 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2021.102150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
De novo domestication is an exciting option for increasing species diversity and ecosystem service functionality of agricultural landscapes. Genomic selection (GS), the application of genomic markers to predict phenotypic traits in a breeding population, offers the possibility of rapid genetic improvement, making GS especially attractive for modifying traits of long-lived species. However, for some wild species just entering the domestication pipeline, especially those with large and complex genomes, a lack of funding and/or prior genome characterization, GS is often out of reach. High throughput phenomics has the potential to augment traditional pedigree selection, reduce costs and amplify impacts of genomic selection, and even create new predictive selection approaches independent of sequencing or pedigrees.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lee R DeHaan
- The Land Institute, 2440 E Water Well Rd., Salina, KS, 67401, USA
| | | | - Jenna Hershberger
- The Land Institute, 2440 E Water Well Rd., Salina, KS, 67401, USA; Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, Saint Louis, MO, 63132, USA
| | - Matthew J Rubin
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, Saint Louis, MO, 63132, USA
| | | | - Kathryn Turner
- The Land Institute, 2440 E Water Well Rd., Salina, KS, 67401, USA
| | - Allison J Miller
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, Saint Louis, MO, 63132, USA; Saint Louis University Department of Biology, 3507 Laclede Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA.
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5
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Altendorf KR, DeHaan LR, Larson SR, Anderson JA. QTL for seed shattering and threshability in intermediate wheatgrass align closely with well-studied orthologs from wheat, barley, and rice. Plant Genome 2021; 14:e20145. [PMID: 34626160 DOI: 10.1002/tpg2.20145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Perennial grain crops have the potential to improve agricultural sustainability but few existing species produce sufficient grain yield to be economically viable. The outcrossing, allohexaploid, and perennial forage species intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) [Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D. R. Dewey] has shown promise in undergoing direct domestication as a perennial grain crop using phenotypic and genomic selection. However, decades of selection will be required to achieve yields on par with annual small-grain crops. Marker-aided selection could accelerate progress if important genomic regions associated with domestication were identified. Here we use the IWG nested association mapping (NAM) population, with 1,168 F1 progeny across 10 families to dissect the genetic control of brittle rachis, floret shattering, and threshability. We used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 8,003 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and linkage mapping-both within-family and combined across families-with a robust phenotypic dataset collected from four unique year-by-location combinations. A total of 29 quantitative trait loci (QTL) using GWAS and 20 using the combined linkage analysis were detected, and most large-effect QTL were in common across the two analysis methods. We reveal that the genetic control of these traits in IWG is complex, with significant QTL across multiple chromosomes, sometimes within and across homoeologous groups and effects that vary depending on the family. In some cases, these QTL align within 216 bp to 31 Mbp of BLAST hits for known domestication genes in related species and may serve as precise targets of selection and directions for further study to advance the domestication of IWG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayla R Altendorf
- USDA-ARS Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit, Prosser, WA, 99350, USA
| | | | - Steve R Larson
- USDA-ARS Forage & Range Research Lab, Logan, UT, 84322, USA
| | - James A Anderson
- Dep. of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, Univ. of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
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6
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Altendorf KR, Larson SR, DeHaan LR, Crain J, Neyhart J, Dorn KM, Anderson JA. Nested association mapping reveals the genetic architecture of spike emergence and anthesis timing in intermediate wheatgrass. G3 (Bethesda) 2021; 11:6124305. [PMID: 33890617 PMCID: PMC8063084 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium) is an outcrossing, cool season grass species currently undergoing direct domestication as a perennial grain crop. Though many traits are selection targets, understanding the genetic architecture of those important for local adaptation may accelerate the domestication process. Nested association mapping (NAM) has proven useful in dissecting the genetic control of agronomic traits many crop species, but its utility in primarily outcrossing, perennial species has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we introduce an intermediate wheatgrass NAM population developed by crossing ten phenotypically divergent donor parents to an adapted common parent in a reciprocal manner, yielding 1,168 F1 progeny from 10 families. Using genotyping by sequencing, we identified 8,003 SNP markers and developed a population-specific consensus genetic map with 3,144 markers across 21 linkage groups. Using both genomewide association mapping and linkage mapping combined across and within families, we characterized the genetic control of flowering time. In the analysis of two measures of maturity across four separate environments, we detected as many as 75 significant QTL, many of which correspond to the same regions in both analysis methods across 11 chromosomes. The results demonstrate a complex genetic control that is variable across years, locations, traits, and within families. The methods were effective at detecting previously identified QTL, as well as new QTL that align closely to the well-characterized flowering time orthologs from barley, including Ppd-H1 and Constans. Our results demonstrate the utility of the NAM population for understanding the genetic control of flowering time and its potential for application to other traits of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayla R Altendorf
- USDA-ARS, Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser, WA 99350, USA
| | | | - Lee R DeHaan
- USDA-ARS, Forage Range and Research Lab, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
| | - Jared Crain
- Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Jeff Neyhart
- GEMS Informatics Initiative, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Kevin M Dorn
- USDA-ARS, Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA
| | - James A Anderson
- Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
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7
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Van Tassel DL, Tesdell O, Schlautman B, Rubin MJ, DeHaan LR, Crews TE, Streit Krug A. New Food Crop Domestication in the Age of Gene Editing: Genetic, Agronomic and Cultural Change Remain Co-evolutionarily Entangled. Front Plant Sci 2020; 11:789. [PMID: 32595676 PMCID: PMC7300247 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The classic domestication scenario for grains and fruits has been portrayed as the lucky fixation of major-effect "domestication genes." Characterization of these genes plus recent improvements in generating novel alleles (e.g., by gene editing) have created great interest in de novo domestication of new crops from wild species. While new gene editing technologies may accelerate some genetic aspects of domestication, we caution that de novo domestication should be understood as an iterative process rather than a singular event. Changes in human social preferences and relationships and ongoing agronomic innovation, along with broad genetic changes, may be foundational. Allele frequency changes at many loci controlling quantitative traits not normally included in the domestication syndrome may be required to achieve sufficient yield, quality, defense, and broad adaptation. The environments, practices and tools developed and maintained by farmers and researchers over generations contribute to crop yield and success, yet those may not be appropriate for new crops without a history of agronomy. New crops must compete with crops that benefit from long-standing participation in human cultural evolution; adoption of new crops may require accelerating the evolution of new crops' culinary and cultural significance, the emergence of markets and trade, and the formation and support of agricultural and scholarly institutions. We provide a practical framework that highlights and integrates these genetic, agronomic, and cultural drivers of change to conceptualize de novo domestication for communities of new crop domesticators, growers and consumers. Major gene-focused domestication may be valuable in creating allele variants that are critical to domestication but will not alone result in widespread and ongoing cultivation of new crops. Gene editing does not bypass or diminish the need for classical breeding, ethnobotanical and horticultural knowledge, local agronomy and crop protection research and extension, farmer participation, and social and cultural research and outreach. To realize the ecological and social benefits that a new era of de novo domestication could offer, we call on funding agencies, proposal reviewers and authors, and research communities to value and support these disciplines and approaches as essential to the success of the breakthroughs that are expected from gene editing techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Omar Tesdell
- Department of Geography, Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine
| | | | - Matthew J. Rubin
- Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO, United States
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8
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de Oliveira G, Brunsell NA, Crews TE, DeHaan LR, Vico G. Carbon and water relations in perennial Kernza (Thinopyrum intermedium): An overview. Plant Sci 2020; 295:110279. [PMID: 32534616 DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2019.110279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/16/2019] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Perennial crops have been proposed as a more sustainable alternative to annual crops, because they have extended growing seasons, continuous ground cover, reduced nutrient leakage, and sequester more carbon in the soils than annual crops. One example is intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium), a perennial crop that has been used as a cool-season forage throughout the USA and Canada and also across its native range in Eurasia. Since the 1980's, intermediate wheatgrass has been under domestication to improve seed fertility and grain yield. Commercial products are being sold under the trade name Kernza, owned by The Land Institute, located in Salina, Kansas, USA. This review provides a comprehensive framework about the physical and biological aspects involving the water and carbon cycles in Kernza plants. The main aspects we highlight here are based on previous findings regarding Kernza: i) the ability of maintaining a relatively high water-use efficiency throughout the whole growing season, which is beneficial to mitigate water stress, representing an important physiological mean to acclimate under severe, unfavorable weather conditions, and ii) its higher evapotranspiration (ET) and net carbon uptake rates, particularly when compared to annual counterparts. Only a thorough multifaceted assessment of the repercussion for carbon and water fluxes of a shift from annual crops to Kernza will allow assessing the perspectives of such novel perennial crop to support food security and a number of ecosystem services, particularly under future climates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel de Oliveira
- Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science, University of Kansas, 1475 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA.
| | - Nathaniel A Brunsell
- Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science, University of Kansas, 1475 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA.
| | - Timothy E Crews
- The Land Institute, 2440 East Water Well Rd., Salina, KS, 67401, USA.
| | - Lee R DeHaan
- The Land Institute, 2440 East Water Well Rd., Salina, KS, 67401, USA.
| | - Giulia Vico
- Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Ulls väg 16, Uppsala, 75007, Sweden.
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9
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Abstract
Plant breeders are increasing yields and improving agronomic traits in several perennial grain crops, the first of which is now being incorporated into commercial food products. Integration strategies and management guidelines are needed to optimize production of these new crops, which differ substantially from both annual grain crops and perennial forages. To offset relatively low grain yields, perennial grain cropping systems should be multifunctional. Growing perennial grains for several years to regenerate soil health before rotating to annual crops and growing perennial grains on sloped land and ecologically sensitive areas to reduce soil erosion and nutrient losses are two strategies that can provide ecosystem services and support multifunctionality. Several perennial cereals can be used to produce both grain and forage, and these dual-purpose crops can be intercropped with legumes for additional benefits. Highly diverse perennial grain polycultures can further enhance ecosystem services, but increased management complexity might limit their adoption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R Ryan
- School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | | | - Steven W Culman
- School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Wooster
| | - Lee R DeHaan
- Kernza Domestication Program at The Land Institute, Salina, Kansas
| | - Richard C Hayes
- Department of Primary Industries, Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, Australia
| | - Jacob M Jungers
- Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul
| | - Matthew G Bakker
- US Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research Unit, Peoria, Illinois
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10
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Zhang X, Larson SR, Gao L, Teh SL, DeHaan LR, Fraser M, Sallam A, Kantarski T, Frels K, Poland J, Wyse D, Anderson JA. Uncovering the Genetic Architecture of Seed Weight and Size in Intermediate Wheatgrass through Linkage and Association Mapping. Plant Genome 2017; 10. [PMID: 29293813 DOI: 10.3835/plantgenome2017.03.0022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Intermediate wheatgrass [IWG; (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey subsp. ] is being developed as a new perennial grain crop that has a large allohexaploid genome similar to that of wheat ( L.). Breeding for increased seed weight is one of the primary goals for improving grain yield of IWG. As a new crop, however, the genetic architecture of seed weight and size has not been characterized, and selective breeding of IWG may be more intricate than wheat because of its self-incompatible mating system and perennial growth habit. Here, seed weight, seed area size, seed width, and seed length were evaluated across multiple years, in a heterogeneous breeding population comprised of 1126 genets and two clonally replicated biparental populations comprised of 172 and 265 genets. Among 10,171 DNA markers discovered using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) in the breeding population, 4731 markers were present in a consensus genetic map previously constructed using seven full-sib populations. Thirty-three quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with seed weight and size were identified using association mapping (AM), of which 23 were verified using linkage mapping in the biparental populations. About 37.6% of seed weight variation in the breeding population was explained by 15 QTL, 12 of which also contributed to either seed length or seed width. When performing either phenotypic selection or genomic selection for seed weight, we observed the frequency of favorable QTL alleles were increased to >46%. Thus, by combining AM and genomic selection, we can effectively select the favorable QTL alleles for seed weight and size in IWG breeding populations.
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Zhang X, Sallam A, Gao L, Kantarski T, Poland J, DeHaan LR, Wyse DL, Anderson JA. Establishment and Optimization of Genomic Selection to Accelerate the Domestication and Improvement of Intermediate Wheatgrass. Plant Genome 2016; 9. [PMID: 27898759 DOI: 10.3835/plantgenome2015.07.0059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) is a perennial species and has edible and nutritious grain and desirable agronomic traits, including large seed size, high grain yield, and biomass. It also has the potential to provide ecosystem services and an economic return to farmers. However, because of its allohexaploidy and self-incompatibility, developing molecular markers for genetic analysis and molecular breeding has been challenging. In the present study, using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technology, 3436 genome-wide markers discovered in a biparental population with 178 genets, were mapped to 21 linkage groups (LG) corresponding to 21 chromosomes of IWG. Genomic prediction models were developed using 3883 markers discovered in a breeding population containing 1126 representative genets from 58 half-sib families. High predictive ability was observed for seven agronomic traits using cross-validation, ranging from 0.46 for biomass to 0.67 for seed weight. Optimization results indicated that 8 to 10 genets from each half-sib family can form a good training population to predict the breeding value of their siblings, and 1600 genome-wide markers are adequate to capture the genetic variation in the current breeding population for genomic selection. Thus, with the advances in sequencing-based marker technologies, it was practical to perform molecular genetic analysis and molecular breeding on a new and challenging species like IWG, and genomic selection could increase the efficiency of recurrent selection and accelerate the domestication and improvement of IWG.
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Wang RRC, Larson SR, Jensen KB, Bushman BS, DeHaan LR, Wang S, Yan X. Genome evolution of intermediate wheatgrass as revealed by EST-SSR markers developed from its three progenitor diploid species. Genome 2015; 58:63-70. [DOI: 10.1139/gen-2014-0186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey), a segmental autoallohexaploid (2n = 6x = 42), is not only an important forage crop but also a valuable gene reservoir for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) improvement. Throughout the scientific literature, there continues to be disagreement as to the origin of the different genomes in intermediate wheatgrass. Genotypic data obtained from newly developed EST-SSR primers derived from the putative progenitor diploid species Pseudoroegneria spicata (Pursh) Á. Löve (St genome), Thinopyrum bessarabicum (Savul. & Rayss) Á. Löve (J = Jb = Eb), and Thinopyrum elongatum (Host) D. Dewey (E = Je = Ee) indicate that the V genome of Dasypyrum (Coss. & Durieu) T. Durand is not one of the three genomes in intermediate wheatgrass. Based on all available information in the literature and findings in this study, the genomic designation of intermediate wheatgrass should be changed to JvsJrSt, where Jvs and Jr represent ancestral genomes of present-day Jb of Th. bessarabicum and Je of Th. elongatum, with Jvs being more ancient. Furthermore, the information suggests that the St genome in intermediate wheatgrass is most similar to the present-day St found in diploid species of Pseudoroegneria from Eurasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard R.-C. Wang
- US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Logan, UT 84322-6300, USA
| | - Steve R. Larson
- US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Logan, UT 84322-6300, USA
| | - Kevin B. Jensen
- US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Logan, UT 84322-6300, USA
| | - B. Shaun Bushman
- US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Logan, UT 84322-6300, USA
| | - Lee R. DeHaan
- The Land Institute, 2440 E. Water Well Road, Salina, KS 67401, USA
| | - Shuwen Wang
- The Land Institute, 2440 E. Water Well Road, Salina, KS 67401, USA
| | - Xuebing Yan
- US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Logan, UT 84322-6300, USA
- College of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China
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Abstract
Annual grain crops dominate agricultural landscapes and provide the majority of calories consumed by humanity. Perennial grain crops could potentially ameliorate the land degradation and off-site impacts associated with annual grain cropping. However, herbaceous perennial plants with constitutively high allocation to harvestable seeds are rare to absent in nature. Recent trade-off theory models suggest that rugged fitness landscapes may explain the absence of this form better than sink competition models. Artificial selection for both grain production and multiyear lifespan can lead to more rapid progress in the face of fitness and genetic trade-offs than natural selection but is likely to result in plant types that differ substantially from all current domestic crops. Perennial grain domestication is also likely to require the development of selection strategies that differ from published crop breeding methods, despite their success in improving long-domesticated crops; for this purpose, we have reviewed literature in the areas of population and evolutionary genetics, domestication, and molecular biology. Rapid domestication will likely require genes with large effect that are expected to exhibit strong pleiotropy and epistasis. Cryptic genetic variation will need to be deliberately exposed both to purge mildly deleterious alleles and to generate novel agronomic phenotypes. We predict that perennial grain domestication programs will benefit from population subdivision followed by selection for simple traits in each subpopulation, the evaluation of very large populations, high selection intensity, rapid cycling through generations, and heterosis. The latter may be particularly beneficial in the development of varieties with stable yield and tolerance to crowding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee R DeHaan
- The Land Institute, 2440 E. Water Well Rd., Salina, Kansas 67401 USA
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Zhang X, DeHaan LR, Higgins L, Markowski TW, Wyse DL, Anderson JA. New insights into high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits and sub-genomes of the perennial crop Thinopyrum intermedium (Triticeae). J Cereal Sci 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcs.2014.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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Abstract
In the course of their evolution, the angiosperms have radiated into most known plant forms and life histories. Their adaptation to a recently created habitat, the crop field, produced a novel form: the plant that allocates an unprecedented 30-60% of its net productivity to sexual structures. Long-lived trees, shrubs and vines of this form evolved, as did annual herbs. Perennial herb forms with increased allocation to asexual reproduction evolved, but there are no examples of perennial herbs with high sexual effort. We suggest that sowing seed into annually tilled fields favored shorter-lived herbs because of trade-offs between first-year seed production and relative growth rate and/or persistence. By propagating cuttings, people quickly domesticated tuber crops and large woody plants. Perennial herbs were too small to be efficiently propagated by cuttings, and the association between longevity, allogamy and genetic load made rapid domestication by sexual cycles unlikely. Perennial grain crops do not exist because they could not have evolved under the original set of conditions; however, they can be deliberately developed today through artificial phenotypic and genotypic selection.
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