Submitted by Mi.Varokky@iaea.org on
Project Code
D23027
1312
IAEA Programme
Status
Project Author
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
Approved Date
Start Date
Expected End Date
Completed Date
CRP Closed Date
Description

Vegetatively propagated crops, those crops whose planting materials include among others stem cuttings, vines, suckers, or tubers, rather than biological seeds arising from sexual reproduction, are critical for food security in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Increased and stable yields in these crops are required in order to meet the calorie needs of the rapidly growing populations in these regions. The challenges are particularly urgent in sub-Saharan Africa, where rapid population growth and an alarming rate of climate change are making vegetatively propagated crops even more vital for achieving food security. The production of improved varieties that are nutritionally acceptable, minimize post-harvest losses, show tolerance to such important abiotic stresses as drought and salinity, and biotic stresses such as pests and diseases, while still satisfying the diverse preferences and agro-ecologies across the tropics and sub-tropics is a daunting task. This is because starting materials in the genetic improvement of vegetatively propagated crops usually lack the uniform genetic background that greatly simplifies the genetic improvement of seed propagated crops. However, new powerful neutral tools of molecular biology that can circumvent the confounding effects of non-heritable factors while evaluating crop germplasm can, when applied in concert with induced mutations (deliberate artificial change to the genetic make up of individuals) and cell culture techniques, facilitate the improvement of these crops. This Coordinated Research Project (CRP) will make every effort to ensure that the existing molecular resources and information on the genetic make up of banana and cassava (i.e. genomics tools) are brought to bear on efforts to produce improved varieties of both crops. It will achieve this goal by the development of exhaustively characterized populations structured for the discovery of genes influencing traits of interest while building upon the experiences of the Agency in the use of induced mutations for the genetic improvement in both crops. This CRP will also facilitate access to information resources on the genetic make up of these 2 crops currently being held by advanced labs, and the development of plant populations that make genetic improvement easier and facilitate the location of the genes controlling traits of interest. The above tools will be aggressively applied to improve the efficiency of enhancing quality traits, and the equally important tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress constraints in banana and cassava in active cassava and banana breeding programs in Member States. The results of these activities will also be documented to provide a proof of concept on the use of these new methodologies and tools in concert with induced mutations to understand the biological bases of important genetic traits and their application in crop improvement.

Objectives

Together, banana and cassava are staple crops for over 1 billion people in developing countries particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Largely vegetativley propagated, these crops face challenges not found in seed propagated crops. Genomics resources exist for cassava and banana, but they remain to be deployed widely in the aid of breeding and integration with mutant germplasm. There is a lack of well-defined genetic stocks with which to conduct functional genomics analysis that is critical for the application of genomics and nuclear technologies in plant breeding, and a need for a network of advanced labs and NARS in tropical countries to begin the process of putting these tools to work. The CRP was started in 2004 to bridge this gap and exploit opportunities for technology development, breeding and the use of mutations to advance progress in the crops, and to develop guidelines and strategies relevant to all vegetatively propagated species.

Specific objectives

To employ induced mutants and functional genomics, at the single gene level (conserved orthologous [COS] markers) and at the transcriptome level (a collection of ESTs), as well as appropriate genetic mapping populations, including doubled haploids, to identify molecular markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS) of quality and related traits.

Impact

The outputs of genomic sequences and cDNA (ESTs), and implementation of a variety of different marker systems, and their linkage to important agronomic traits provides a good foundation for continued efforts in using molecular tools to enhance the efficiency of mutation based improvement of banana and cassava. The development of mutant populations with improved traits (yield, starch quality, delayed post harvest physiological deterioration, etc) also provides the base material for the development of new varieties. Such successes should have a good impact within the circle of collaborators and should spread to groups not participating in the CRP and who are struggling to overcome the many bottlenecks of improvement of vegetatively propagated crops. While only focusing on cassava and banana, the methods employed in this CRP can be transferred to other important vegetatively propagated crops.

Relevance

Vegetatively propagated crops such as cassava and banana suffer from numerous bottlenecks including lack of meiotic propagation, that make their improvement through traditional or mutation breeding approaches less efficient and more time consuming that seed propagated crops. Together, Musa (banana and plantain) and cassava make up staple foods for over 1 billion people in developing countries. Climate change and variation, coupled with increased population growth in the least developed countries, means that pressures on agricultural production are likely to increase. With little investment from developed countries, the improvement of vegetatively propagated crops is at a distinct disadvantage. Further, rapid improvements that could potentially be achieved with GMOs is largely shunned by the public and requires heretofore non existent regulatory infrastructure in developing countries. Taken together, mutation based approaches can be considered a major area where successes can be achieved.

CRP PO1 Section
PBG - Plant Breeding and Genetics Section
CRP PO1 Division
NAFA - Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agricult
CRP Open for proposals
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