Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Utilization

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2020) | Viewed by 8549

Special Issue Editors

Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan
Interests: plant cytogenetics; plant genetics and breeding; genetic resources; biodiversity; biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Biodiversity is the foundation of human survival and development. Agro-biodiversity is a part of biodiversity and supports the food system by providing specific ecosystems for human beings. Plant genetic resources are the backbones of agro-biodiversity for food and agriculture, and also for supporting plant breeding. Nonetheless, many locally used species have not been sufficiently exploited with scientific support, and information sharing is meagre at the global basis. Some of them could be utilized widely to cope with the climate challenges which hamper food production with conventional crops. Combinations of local varieties of a crop species can be a replacement of large-scale monoculture of one cultivar, such as banana, by providing resilience and overall production stability with numbers of varieties. Further, employment of a wide range of exotic and under-utilized species could be the new approach for supporting new food systems to enforce diet and nutrition under very unpredictable global climates.

The aims of this research topic are to assemble different approaches and to provide forums to discuss the values of agro-biodiversity and plant genetic resources, and further to promote research associated with plant genetic resources and to lead to sustainable development to open arenas for new approaches on the conservation and uses of agro-biodiversity. Some examples of research subjects include genetic diversity conservation status, conservation technology, on-farm management of plant genetic resources, agroecology, agroforestry, gene bank management of plant genetic resources, utilization, value-finding analytic approaches such as by phytochemistry, and ethic, legal and social issues on plant genetic resources.

We welcome alternative approaches from the present crop breeding and uses which are rather large-scale monoculture of a small number of genotypes. Some of the key topics may be based on an amalgamation of scientific research with policy, laws, ethics, and socioeconomic aspects.

Prof. Dr. Rodomiro Ortiz
Prof. Dr. Kazuo N. Watanabe
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Neglected and under-utilized plant species;
  • Agroecology;
  • Agroforestry;
  • Backyard agro-biodiversity;
  • Diet and health with plant genetic resources;
  • Changing monoculture mind to diversity uses under climate change;
  • Ethic, legal and social issues on plant genetic resources;
  • Value chain creation with under-utilized species for promotion of conservation and sustainable uses;

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

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26 pages, 2321 KiB  
Review
Achievements and Challenges towards a Sustainable Conservation and Use of ‘Galega vulgar’ Olea europaea Variety
by Hélia Sales, João Nunes and Maria Carlota Vaz Patto
Agronomy 2020, 10(10), 1467; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10101467 - 25 Sep 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4226
Abstract
The cultivated Olea europaea L., or olive tree, is an ancient crop extremely relevant for the bioeconomy of Mediterranean countries, especially for Portugal. With orchard modernization, Portugal has the potential to become the third-largest producer of olive oil over the next decade. In [...] Read more.
The cultivated Olea europaea L., or olive tree, is an ancient crop extremely relevant for the bioeconomy of Mediterranean countries, especially for Portugal. With orchard modernization, Portugal has the potential to become the third-largest producer of olive oil over the next decade. In this country, the main national variety is ‘Galega vulgar,’ characterized by an excellent olive oil quality, rusticity and tolerance to drought. Nevertheless, its production has suffered a reduction due to replacement by foreign varieties. The present narrative review offers an overall perspective of present gaps and challenges to the conservation and use of ‘Galega vulgar.’ Existing information about traditional and innovative olive production systems, and the importance of life cycle thinking approaches for a sustainable olive chain were synthesized, focusing particularly in the last 10 years. Furthermore, the olive molecular characterization advances and their breeding importance were also evaluated considering their application to this Portuguese variety. To ensure an efficient and sustainable exploitation of the ‘Galega vulgar,’ we propose that efforts should concentrate on the characterization of the existing variability and development of genotype to phenotype prediction tools, integrating detailed molecular marker genotypic and environmental characterization, to support better informed conservation and breeding decisions in a multi-environment context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Utilization)
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Other

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14 pages, 2274 KiB  
Opinion
Advanced Strategic Research to Promote the Use of Rice Genetic Resources
by Jae-Sung Lee, Dmytro Chebotarov, John Damien Platten, Kenneth McNally and Ajay Kohli
Agronomy 2020, 10(11), 1629; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10111629 - 23 Oct 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3141
Abstract
International genebanks have a collection of over 760 K conserved accessions of various plants, most of these accessions are within the multi-lateral system governed by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). However, in spite of the success [...] Read more.
International genebanks have a collection of over 760 K conserved accessions of various plants, most of these accessions are within the multi-lateral system governed by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). However, in spite of the success in collection and conservation, only a small portion of the genetic diversity has been used in crop breeding programs. As climate change-induced new or enhanced constraints seriously hamper crop productions, researchers and breeders should be able to swiftly choose an appropriate set of genetic resources from the genebank and use them for improving crop varieties. Here, we present some advanced technologies that can effectively promote the use of diverse rice accessions held at national/international genebanks. High throughput phenotyping using multispectral imaging systems and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) can quickly screen large numbers of accessions for various useful traits. Such data, when combined with that from the digital rice genebank consisting of genome sequencing data, will significantly increase the efficiency in breeding efforts. Recent genome sequencing data of the rice wild species will also add to the resources available for pre-breeding efforts such as the introgression of useful genes into modern rice varieties. We expect that these advanced technologies and strategies developed through the global rice research programs will be applicable for many closely related species as well. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Utilization)
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