Fadida-Myers Aviya, Fuerst Dana, Tzuberi Aviv, Yadav Shailesh, Nashef Kamal, Roychowdhury Rajib, Sansaloni Carolina Paola, Hübner Sariel, Ben-David Roi
Department of Vegetables and Field Crops, Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization (ARO)-The Volcani Center, Rishon LeZion 7505101, Israel.
The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
Plants (Basel). 2022 May 30;11(11):1460. doi: 10.3390/plants11111460.
Emmer wheat ( ssp. ) is one of the world's oldest domesticated crops, and it harbors a potentially rich reservoir of agronomic and nutritional quality trait variations. The growing global demand for plant-based health-food niche markets has promoted new commercial interest in ancient grains, including Emmer wheat. Although can also perform well under harsh environments, its cultivation along the Mediterranean agro-ecosystems is sparse. Here, we analyze a unique tetraploid wheat collection ( = 121) representing a wide geographic range of Emmer accessions, using 9897 DArTseq markers and on-field phenotypic characterization to quantify the extent of diversity among populations and the interactions between eco-geographic, genetic, and phenotypic attributes. Population genomic inferences based on the DArTseq data indicated that the collection could be split into four distinguished clusters in accordance with their eco-geographic origin although significant phenotypic variation was observed within clusters. Superior early vegetative vigor, shorter plant height, and early phenology were observed among emmer wheat accessions from Ethiopia compared to accessions from northern regions. This adaptive advantage highlights the potential of emmer wheat as an exotic germplasm for wheat improvement through breeding. The direct integration of such germplasm into conventional or organic farming agro-systems under the Mediterranean basin climate is also discussed.
二粒小麦（亚种）是世界上最古老的驯化作物之一，它蕴藏着丰富的农艺和营养品质性状变异。全球对植物性健康食品小众市场的需求不断增长，激发了包括二粒小麦在内的古老谷物的新商业兴趣。尽管二粒小麦在恶劣环境下也能生长良好，但在地中海农业生态系统中的种植却很稀少。在这里，我们分析了一个独特的四倍体小麦群体（n = 121），该群体代表了广泛地理范围的二粒小麦种质，使用9897个DArTseq标记和田间表型特征来量化群体间的多样性程度以及生态地理、遗传和表型属性之间的相互作用。基于DArTseq数据的群体基因组推断表明，尽管在群体内部观察到显著的表型变异，但该群体可以根据其生态地理起源分为四个不同的聚类。与来自北部地区的种质相比，来自埃塞俄比亚的二粒小麦种质表现出优越的早期营养活力、较矮的株高和较早的物候期。这种适应性优势突出了二粒小麦作为一种外来种质通过育种改良小麦的潜力。还讨论了在地中海盆地气候条件下，将这种种质直接整合到传统或有机农业系统中的问题。
