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Genes
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Genetic Diversity for Crop Improvement
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Genetic Diversity for Crop Improvement

A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2016) | Viewed by 35552

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sean Mayes

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Science, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leics, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK
Interests: crop genetic diversity; marker assisted selection; underutilised crops; crop breeding; genome evolution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Festo Massawe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Nottingham in Malaysia, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, 43500 Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Interests: capacity development; agricultural biodiversity for food and nutritional security; climate change and crop adaptation; food environments; sustainable food system; genetic analysis of crop traits and breeding; agriculture-environment-health nexus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Prakit Somta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture at Kamphaeng Saen, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand
Interests: plant breeding; plant genetic resources; legumes; mung bean; Vigna; molecular breeding; QTL
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wai Kuan Ho

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Crop For the Future, and School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
Interests: genetic regulation of traits; response to abiotic stress; comparative genetics; functional genomics; genetic diversity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The genetic and trait diversity available to a crop underpins any attempt at genetic improvement. That trait diversity may come from elite cultivars, from unimproved landraces or even from related species. While genetic modification will be one important tool to develop new crops to address the effects of climate change, this will still be in the context of strong conventional and advanced breeding programmes that produce new combinations of traits.

The need to improve staple crops, develop new crops and to investigate new agricultural systems is clear. The development of Next Generation Sequencing also represents one of a series of new valuable tools to begin to comprehensively evaluate the genetic diversity available to crop breeders, alongside new phenotyping and trait evaluation techniques.

This special issue invites contributions focused on the evaluation of crop genetic diversity (and associated trait diversity) with a focus on utilizing the available diversity in crop improvement programmes.

Dr. Sean Mayes
Prof. Festo Massawe
Dr. Prakit Sompta
Dr. Wai Kuan Ho
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.


Keywords

  • genetic diversity
  • trait variation
  • crop breeding

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1560 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Sesame Accessions from Africa and Asia as Major Centers of Its Cultivation
by Komivi Dossa, Xin Wei, Yanxin Zhang, Daniel Fonceka, Wenjuan Yang, Diaga Diouf, Boshou Liao, Ndiaga Cissé and Xiurong Zhang
Genes 2016, 7(4), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes7040014 - 12 Apr 2016
Cited by 64 | Viewed by 9098
Abstract
Sesame is an important oil crop widely cultivated in Africa and Asia. Understanding the genetic diversity of accessions from these continents is critical to designing breeding methods and for additional collection of sesame germplasm. To determine the genetic diversity in relation to geographical [...] Read more.
Sesame is an important oil crop widely cultivated in Africa and Asia. Understanding the genetic diversity of accessions from these continents is critical to designing breeding methods and for additional collection of sesame germplasm. To determine the genetic diversity in relation to geographical regions, 96 sesame accessions collected from 22 countries distributed over six geographic regions in Africa and Asia were genotyped using 33 polymorphic SSR markers. Large genetic variability was found within the germplasm collection. The total number of alleles was 137, averaging 4.15 alleles per locus. The accessions from Asia displayed more diversity than those from Africa. Accessions from Southern Asia (SAs), Eastern Asia (EAs), and Western Africa (WAf) were highly diversified, while those from Western Asia (WAs), Northern Africa (NAf), and Southeastern Africa (SAf) had the lowest diversity. The analysis of molecular variance revealed that more than 44% of the genetic variance was due to diversity among geographic regions. Five subpopulations, including three in Asia and two in Africa, were cross-identified through phylogenetic, PCA, and STRUCTURE analyses. Most accessions clustered in the same population based on their geographical origins. Our results provide technical guidance for efficient management of sesame genetic resources in breeding programs and further collection of sesame germplasm from these different regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity for Crop Improvement)
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15 pages, 236 KiB  
Article
Exploring Folate Diversity in Wild and Primitive Potatoes for Modern Crop Improvement
by Bruce R. Robinson, Vidyasagar Sathuvalli, John Bamberg and Aymeric Goyer
Genes 2015, 6(4), 1300-1314; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes6041300 - 8 Dec 2015
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5635
Abstract
Malnutrition is one of the world’s largest health concerns. Folate (also known as vitamin B9) is essential in the human diet, and without adequate folate intake, several serious health concerns, such as congenital birth defects and an increased risk of stroke [...] Read more.
Malnutrition is one of the world’s largest health concerns. Folate (also known as vitamin B9) is essential in the human diet, and without adequate folate intake, several serious health concerns, such as congenital birth defects and an increased risk of stroke and heart disease, can occur. Most people’s folate intake remains sub-optimal, even in countries that have a folic acid food fortification program in place. Staple crops, such as potatoes, represent an appropriate organism for biofortification through traditional breeding based on their worldwide consumption and the fact that modern cultivars only contain about 6% of the daily recommended intake of folate. To start breeding potatoes with enhanced folate content, high folate potato material must be identified. In this study, 250 individual plants from 77 accessions and 10 Solanum species were screened for their folate content using a tri-enzyme extraction and microbial assay. There was a 10-fold range of folate concentrations among individuals. Certain individuals within the species Solanum tuberosum subsp. andigenum, Solanum vernei and Solanum boliviense have the potential to produce more than double the folate concentrations of commercial cultivars, such as Russet Burbank. Our results show that tapping into the genetic diversity of potato is a promising approach to increase the folate content of this important crop. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity for Crop Improvement)
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14 pages, 1963 KiB  
Article
Molecular and Cytogenetic Characterization of New Wheat—Dasypyrum breviaristatum Derivatives with Post-Harvest Re-Growth Habit
by Hongjun Zhang, Guangrong Li, Donghai Li, Dan Gao, Jie Zhang, Ennian Yang and Zujun Yang
Genes 2015, 6(4), 1242-1255; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes6041242 - 27 Nov 2015
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5970
Abstract
A novel Dasypyrum species, Dasypyrum breviaristatum, serves as a valuable source of useful genes for wheat improvement. The development and characterization of new wheat—D. breviaristatum introgression lines is important to determine the novel gene(s) on specific chromosome(s). We first used multi-color [...] Read more.
A novel Dasypyrum species, Dasypyrum breviaristatum, serves as a valuable source of useful genes for wheat improvement. The development and characterization of new wheat—D. breviaristatum introgression lines is important to determine the novel gene(s) on specific chromosome(s). We first used multi-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to identify the individual D. breviaristatum Vb chromosomes in a common wheat—D. breviaristatum partial amphiploid, TDH-2. The FISH patterns of D. breviaristatum chromosomes were different from those of D. villosum chromosomes. Lines D2146 and D2150 were selected from a cross between wheat line MY11 and wheat—D. breviaristatum partial amphiploid TDH-2, and they were characterized by FISH and PCR-based molecular markers. We found that D2150 was a monosomic addition line for chromosome 5Vb of D. breviaristatum, while D2146 had the 5VbL chromosome arm translocated with wheat chromosome 5AS. Molecular marker analysis confirmed that the introduced D. breviaristatum chromosome 5VbL translocation possessed a duplicated region homoeologous to 5AS, revealing that the 5AS.5VbL translocation may not functionally compensate well. The dwarfing and the pre-harvest re-growth habits observed in the wheat—D. breviaristatum chromosome 5Vb derivatives may be useful for future development of perennial growth wheat lines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity for Crop Improvement)
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15 pages, 1216 KiB  
Article
Identification of Candidate Genes for Seed Glucosinolate Content Using Association Mapping in Brassica napus L.
by Cun-Min Qu, Shi-Meng Li, Xiu-Jian Duan, Jin-Hua Fan, Le-Dong Jia, Hui-Yan Zhao, Kun Lu, Jia-Na Li, Xin-Fu Xu and Rui Wang
Genes 2015, 6(4), 1215-1229; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes6041215 - 18 Nov 2015
Cited by 46 | Viewed by 7740
Abstract
Rapeseed contains glucosinolates, a toxic group of sulfur-containing glucosides, which play critical roles in defense against herbivores and microbes. However, the presence of glucosinolates in rapeseed reduces the value of the meal as feed for livestock. We performed association mapping of seed glucosinolate [...] Read more.
Rapeseed contains glucosinolates, a toxic group of sulfur-containing glucosides, which play critical roles in defense against herbivores and microbes. However, the presence of glucosinolates in rapeseed reduces the value of the meal as feed for livestock. We performed association mapping of seed glucosinolate (GS) content using the 60K Brassica Infinium single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array in 520 oilseed rape accessions. A total of 11 peak SNPs significantly associated with GS content were detected in growing seasons of 2013 and 2014 and were located on B. napus chromosomes A08, A09, C03, and C09, respectively. Two associated regions of GS content covered by these markers were further verified, and three B. napus homologous genes involved in the biosynthesis and accumulation of GS were identified. These genes were multigene family members and were distributed on different chromosomes. Moreover, two genes (BnGRT2 and BnMYB28) associated with GS content were validated by the qRT-PCR analysis of their expression profiles. The further identification and functionalization of these genes will provide useful insight into the mechanism underlying GS biosynthesis and allocation in B. napus, and the associated SNPs markers could be helpful for molecular maker-assisted breeding for low seed GS in B. napus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity for Crop Improvement)
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19 pages, 1473 KiB  
Article
Transcriptome Analysis of Two Vicia sativa Subspecies: Mining Molecular Markers to Enhance Genomic Resources for Vetch Improvement
by Tae-Sung Kim, Sebastin Raveendar, Sundan Suresh, Gi-An Lee, Jung-Ro Lee, Joon-Hyeong Cho, Sok-Young Lee, Kyung-Ho Ma, Gyu-Taek Cho and Jong-Wook Chung
Genes 2015, 6(4), 1164-1182; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes6041164 - 2 Nov 2015
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6073
Abstract
The vetch (Vicia sativa) is one of the most important annual forage legumes globally due to its multiple uses and high nutritional content. Despite these agronomical benefits, many drawbacks, including cyano-alanine toxin, has reduced the agronomic value of vetch varieties. Here, [...] Read more.
The vetch (Vicia sativa) is one of the most important annual forage legumes globally due to its multiple uses and high nutritional content. Despite these agronomical benefits, many drawbacks, including cyano-alanine toxin, has reduced the agronomic value of vetch varieties. Here, we used 454 technology to sequence the two V. sativa subspecies (ssp. sativa and ssp. nigra) to enrich functional information and genetic marker resources for the vetch research community. A total of 86,532 and 47,103 reads produced 35,202 and 18,808 unigenes with average lengths of 735 and 601 bp for V. sativa sativa and V. sativa nigra, respectively. Gene Ontology annotations and the cluster of orthologous gene classes were used to annotate the function of the Vicia transcriptomes. The Vicia transcriptome sequences were then mined for simple sequence repeat (SSR) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. About 13% and 3% of the Vicia unigenes contained the putative SSR and SNP sequences, respectively. Among those SSRs, 100 were chosen for the validation and the polymorphism test using the Vicia germplasm set. Thus, our approach takes advantage of the utility of transcriptomic data to expedite a vetch breeding program. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity for Crop Improvement)
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