Genomics-Assisted Improvement of Quinoa

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2024 | Viewed by 5386

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, 5133 LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Interests: plant genomics; abiotic stress tolerance; orphan crops
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Guest Editor
Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, 5144 LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Interests: genetics; genomics; plant transformation and molecular breeding; orphan crops; quinoa cultiva-tion

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Guest Editor
Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, 5009 LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Interests: chromosomal and molecular genetics of oats (Avena) and quinoa (Chenopodium)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Quinoa is a nutritious pseudocereal crop native to the Andean region of South America. It has recently grown in popularity as a niche health food in developed countries but also shows promise in helping to address food security concerns in developing countries, leading to increased interest in producing quinoa in new and diverse locations throughout the world. However, quinoa is not well adapted to many of the biotic and abiotic conditions encountered outside its native areas of cultivation. The availability of genome sequences for both highland and coastal quinoa accessions now opens the door for the genomics-assisted improvement of important agronomic traits in quinoa. This Special Issue of Plants will highlight efforts to use genomics resources and techniques to characterize existing genetic resources in quinoa, to develop new genetic and genomic resources, and to identify the genes underlying agronomic traits, all with the aim of improving quinoa production in its native region and in new locations throughout the world.

Dr. David Jarvis
Prof. Dr. Peter J. Maughan
Prof. Dr. Rick Jellen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • quinoa
  • genomics
  • agronomic trait
  • plant breeding
  • sequencing
  • genetic diversity

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3800 KiB  
Article
Preharvest Sprouting in Quinoa: A New Screening Method Adapted to Panicles and GWAS Components
by Cristina Ocaña-Gallegos, Meijing Liang, Emma McGinty, Zhiwu Zhang, Kevin M. Murphy and Amber L. Hauvermale
Plants 2024, 13(10), 1297; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13101297 - 8 May 2024
Viewed by 1068
Abstract
The introduction of quinoa into new growing regions and environments is of interest to farmers, consumers, and stakeholders around the world. Many plant breeding programs have already started to adapt quinoa to the environmental and agronomic conditions of their local fields. Formal quinoa [...] Read more.
The introduction of quinoa into new growing regions and environments is of interest to farmers, consumers, and stakeholders around the world. Many plant breeding programs have already started to adapt quinoa to the environmental and agronomic conditions of their local fields. Formal quinoa breeding efforts in Washington State started in 2010, led by Professor Kevin Murphy out of Washington State University. Preharvest sprouting appeared as the primary obstacle to increased production in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest. Preharvest sprouting (PHS) is the undesirable sprouting of seeds that occurs before harvest, is triggered by rain or humid conditions, and is responsible for yield losses and lower nutrition in cereal grains. PHS has been extensively studied in wheat, barley, and rice, but there are limited reports for quinoa, partly because it has only recently emerged as a problem. This study aimed to better understand PHS in quinoa by adapting a PHS screening method commonly used in cereals. This involved carrying out panicle-wetting tests and developing a scoring scale specific for panicles to quantify sprouting. Assessment of the trait was performed in a diversity panel (N = 336), and the resulting phenotypes were used to create PHS tolerance rankings and undertake a GWAS analysis (n = 279). Our findings indicate that PHS occurred at varying degrees across a subset of the quinoa germplasm tested and that it is possible to access PHS tolerance from natural sources. Ultimately, these genotypes can be used as parental lines in future breeding programs aiming to incorporate tolerance to PHS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genomics-Assisted Improvement of Quinoa)
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23 pages, 1060 KiB  
Article
Genomic Sequence of Canadian Chenopodium berlandieri: A North American Wild Relative of Quinoa
by Mark E. Samuels, Cassandra Lapointe, Sara Halwas and Anne C. Worley
Plants 2023, 12(3), 467; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030467 - 19 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3552
Abstract
Chenopodium berlandieri (pitseed goosefoot) is a widespread native North American plant, which was cultivated and consumed by indigenous peoples prior to the arrival of European colonists. Chenopodium berlandieri is closely related to, and freely hybridizes with the domesticated South American food crop C. [...] Read more.
Chenopodium berlandieri (pitseed goosefoot) is a widespread native North American plant, which was cultivated and consumed by indigenous peoples prior to the arrival of European colonists. Chenopodium berlandieri is closely related to, and freely hybridizes with the domesticated South American food crop C. quinoa. As such it is a potential source of wild germplasm for breeding with C. quinoa, for improved quinoa production in North America. The C. berlandieri genome sequence could also be a useful source of information for improving quinoa adaptation. To this end, we first optimized barcode markers in two chloroplast genes, rbcL and matK. Together these markers can distinguish C. berlandieri from the morphologically similar Eurasian invasive C. album (lamb’s quarters). Second, we performed whole genome sequencing and preliminary assembly of a C. berlandieri accession collected in Manitoba, Canada. Our assembly, while fragmented, is consistent with the expected allotetraploid structure containing diploid Chenopodium sub-genomes A and B. The genome of our accession is highly homozygous, with only one variant site per 3–4000 bases in non-repetitive sequences. This is consistent with predominant self-fertilization. As previously reported for the genome of a partly domesticated Mexican accession of C. berlandieri, our genome assembly is similar to that of C. quinoa. Somewhat unexpectedly, the genome of our accession had almost as many variant sites when compared to the Mexican C. berlandieri, as compared to C. quinoa. Despite the overall similarity of our genome sequence to that of C. quinoa, there are differences in genes known to be involved in the domestication or genetics of other food crops. In one example, our genome assembly appears to lack one functional copy of the SOS1 (salt overly sensitive 1) gene. SOS1 is involved in soil salinity tolerance, and by extension may be relevant to the adaptation of C. berlandieri to the wet climate of the Canadian region where it was collected. Our genome assembly will be a useful tool for the improved cultivation of quinoa in North America. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genomics-Assisted Improvement of Quinoa)
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