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Novel Studies in Crop Breeding for Promoting Agro-Biodiversity

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A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 3955

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Roberto Pilu

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Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences—Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: breeding; molecular plant breeding; plant genetics; plant genomics; agrobiodiversity; germplasm bank
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Prof. Dr. Michela Landoni

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Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, Via S. Epifanio 14, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: molecular plant breeding; plant genetics; agrobiodiversity; germplasm bank

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agrobiodiversity is the result of human and natural selection over millennia and has allowed the development of all civilizations as we know them today. In fact, it has provided food, fodder, fiber, medicines, fuel, and other useful products. The legacy of the selection made by the farmers of the past was the starting point for the development of the modern varieties used today. In this Special Issue, we will give emphasis on the new studies regarding conservation, valorization, and breeding activities aimed at increasing agrobiodiversity. In recent years, molecular tools implemented the ability to quickly develop new varieties narrowing the genetic bases of the cultivated species in some cases limiting yield and productivity globally. For this motif, recently, pre-breeding activity has become commonly used in order to introgress useful genes from wild relatives, promising landraces, and traditional cultivars. Contributions to this Special Issue are invited from experts working at different system levels including species, varieties, and environment/ecological perspectives, and using any study methodology. Works concerning in situ and ex situ germplasm bank collection studies, pre-breeding, breeding, molecular breeding, and genome studies are welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Roberto Pilu
Prof. Dr. Michela Landoni
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. Agronomy 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

breeding
molecular breeding
plant genetics
plant genomics
agrobiodiversity
germplasm bank

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3420 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Constitution of a Camelina sativa L. Synthetic Population and Agronomic Comparison between Spring and Winter Cultivation in North Italy

by Martina Ghidoli, Sara Frazzini, Stefano De Benedetti, Stefano Sangiorgio, Michela Landoni, Alessio Scarafoni, Luciana Rossi and Roberto Pilu

Agronomy 2023, 13(6), 1562; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy13061562 - 07 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1154

Abstract

In recent years, the interest in increasingly sustainable agriculture has also turned attention towards new cover crops suitable for use in marginal areas that could enter the food chain as new protein and oil sources or for biodiesel production. In this scenario, Camelina sativa is a perfect crop to study. Camelina is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Brassicaceae which is interesting in terms of its oil content, since the seeds contain about 40% oils, with a high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (30–40% alpha linolenic acid, 15–25% linoleic acid, 15% oleic acid and about 15% eicosenoic acid). It is a hexaploid species (2n = 40, genome size ~782 Mb) characterized by rapid growth, a short life cycle (85–100 days for spring varieties, 190–210 for autumn varieties) and low input cultivation needs. However, its use in feed and food is limited by the presence of glucosinolates (GLS). GLS are sulfur molecules involved in plant defense. In recent years, they have been studied not only as antinutritionals but also for their anti-carcinogenic effects against chronic inflammatory and heart diseases and for their use as natural pesticides. Given the recent interest in camelina and its highly nutritious oil, eight pure lines and a synthetic population were compared in two different growing periods, spring and winter. In this work, the genetic materials were characterized for different phenotypic traits, yields and yield components, and bromatological and glucosinolate content. The results confirmed that in North Italy, camelina has higher yields if cultivated in the autumn–winter period (about 2 t/ha vs. 0.6 t/ha); furthermore, a negative correlation was found between spring and winter yields, indicating that varieties that produce more in winter cultivation produce less in spring cultivation. Moreover, to our knowledge, it is the first work in which a synthetic population of Camelina sativa has been tested and proved to be a valid solution for use in various environments both for its adaptability and for the low content of glucosinolates (about 17 mmol/kg). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Studies in Crop Breeding for Promoting Agro-Biodiversity)

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Review

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19 pages, 1416 KiB

Open AccessReview

Diversity as a Plant Breeding Objective

by Salvatore Ceccarelli and Stefania Grando

Agronomy 2024, 14(3), 550; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy14030550 - 08 Mar 2024

Viewed by 790

Abstract

This review paper addresses the importance of increasing agrobiodiversity to cope with climate change and, at the same time, providing a sufficient amount of healthy food. This is in agreement with the messages from ecology and medicine indicating the advantages of biodiversity in general and agrobiodiversity in particular for the planet and for our health. Plant breeding is considered to be one of the causes of the decline in agrobiodiversity, and therefore, this paper illustrates alternatives to the commonly used approach based on centralized selection. The first alternative is decentralized participatory breeding, which adapts crops to both different agronomic environments and client preferences, representing an “option by context” model of research. The second alternative is evolutionary breeding, which is a more dynamic strategy than participatory plant breeding because it merges the advantages of decentralization with the ability of dynamic mixtures and evolutionary populations to cope with biotic and abiotic stresses and evolve, thus adapting to climate change and to the associated changes in the spectrum of pests. A crop capable of evolving as the environment around it evolves appears to be the most ideal way of responding to climate change and increasing agricultural biodiversity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Studies in Crop Breeding for Promoting Agro-Biodiversity)

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18 pages, 2157 KiB

Open AccessReview

Genetics and Environmental Factors Associated with Resistance to Fusarium graminearum, the Causal Agent of Gibberella Ear Rot in Maize

by Andrea Magarini, Alessandro Passera, Martina Ghidoli, Paola Casati and Roberto Pilu

Agronomy 2023, 13(7), 1836; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy13071836 - 11 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1484

Abstract

Maize is one of the most important food and feed sources at the worldwide level. Due to this importance, all the pathogens that can infect this crop can harm both food safety and security. Fungi are the most important pathogens in cultivated maize, and Fusarium spp. are one of the most important families. Reduction in yield and production of dangerous mycotoxins are the main effects of Fusarium spp. infection. Fusarium graminearum (part of the Fusarium graminearum species complex) is one the most important fungi that infect maize, and it is the causative agent of Gibberella ear rot (GER). The main characteristics of this species include its ability to infect various species and its varying infection pressures across different years. This fungus produces various harmful mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, butanolide, and culmorin. Infection can start from silk channels or from ear wounds. In the first case, the environmental conditions are the most important factors, but in the second, a key role is played by the feeding action of lepidopteran larvae (in Europe, Ostrinia nubilalis). All these factors need to be taken into account to develop a successful management strategy, starting from cropping methods that can reduce the source of inoculum to the direct control of the fungus with fungicide, as well as insect control to reduce ear wounds. But, the most important factor that can reduce the effects of this fungus is the use of resistant hybrids. Different studies have highlighted different defensive methods developed by the plant to reduce fungal infections, like fast drying of silk and kernels, chemical compounds produced by the plant after infection, and mechanical protection from insects’ wounds. The aim of this paper is to review the scientific evidence of the most important management strategies against GER in maize and to highlight the genetic basis which is behind hybrid resistance to this disease, with a focus on genes and QTLs found in studies conducted across the world and with different types of maize from tropical cultivars to European flint. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Studies in Crop Breeding for Promoting Agro-Biodiversity)

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