Abstract only

The Seeds of Discovery (SeeD) initiative is one of four components of the Mexico-funded Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture program (MasAgro for its Spanish acronym). SeeD has the ambitious goal to comprehensively characterize the global genetic diversity of maize and wheat. The knowledge generated will provide a base for broadening the genetic base of these crops to develop high-yielding, climate-ready and resource-efficient cultivars. The principal objective of SeeD is to produce information-rich, easy-to-query catalogues for genebank collections in order to make them more accessible to breeders. To this end, SeeD will employ top-end IT tools to develop a user-oriented web portal that will help breeders to identify varieties with promising genetic composition, phenotypic traits, and environmental stress tolerances for their breeding programs. Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) will be used as the method of choice to estimate genetic relationships among genebank accessions without the ascertainment bias inherent in any fixed-array platform, while also generating sufficiently dense genome profiles for genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The allelic states of selected genes with known phenotypic effects will be evaluated or imputed from GBS profiles. SeeD outputs will also include a genetic-analysis service in Mexico which will not only generate most molecular data for the initiative, but will also assist breeders in the marker-assisted mobilization of novel, useful genetic variation into breeding programs. The SeeD strategy for wheat encompasses a systematic survey of the genetic relationships among the approximately 140,000 genebank accessions held at CIMMYT and selected accessions from other institutions; the preparation of new bread-wheat synthetics from previously under-sampled diversity pools; a grouping of genebank accessions according to phenological traits for subsequent phenotyping experiments; an exhaustive screen for heat and drought-tolerant accessions; an evaluation of pre-filtered subsets of accessions for other key characters such as P/N efficiency and resistance to wheat blast, rust, tan spot, Septoria and soil-borne diseases; GWAS for all evaluated traits; and the application of genomic-selection approaches to improve yield potential. Accessions with favorable genetic variation for investigated traits will be combined into multi-parent populations (stratified by phenology characters) to create a common resource for detailed genetic analyses. Selected genome regions with favorable effects on investigated traits will be introgressed into elite backgrounds, possibly by using genomic selection for genetically complex traits. All developed bio-assets developed by SeeD will be made openly available to users who are willing to commit to the open characterization, the unrestricted exchange, and the equitable use of the global maize and wheat genetic resources for the benefit of international agriculture.

Genetic Resources Program|Research and Partnership Program|Global Wheat Program

English

Lucia Segura

INT1888|INT2832|INT2731|INT1511|INT3234|INT3233|INT1237|INT3049

CIMMYT Staff Publications Collection