Scientists have pioneered a new way to breed climate-resilient crops faster by combining plant genebank data with climate and DNA analysis. The method, tested on sorghum, could speed up global efforts to secure food supplies in a changing climate.
Scientists have pioneered a new way to breed climate-resilient crops faster by combining plant genebank data with climate and DNA analysis. The method, tested on sorghum, could speed up global efforts to secure food supplies in a changing climate.
University of Hawai'i scientists are among a team of researchers who have discovered an innovative way to help adapt food crops around the world to Earth's rapidly changing climate.reveals how plant genebanks, home to millions of genetically diverse plants around the world, can help speed up the process of breeding crops better suited for climate change. "Climate driven pressures on food crops touch every country on our planet and this technique holds promise for making more use of our global genebanks," said co-author Michael Kantar of the UH Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience .According to Kantar, plant genebanks are essential for protecting the genetic diversity of food crops. These"living libraries" store seeds and other genetic material, providing a vital resource for plant breeders working to develop new crop varieties that have a range of traits from drought resistance to disease tolerance. The researchers used sorghum, a grain grown for food, fuel, and livestock feed, to test a new method called environmental genomic selection. It combines DNA data with climate information to predict which plants are best suited for future conditions. "It can be applied to any crop that has the right data, these include sorghum, barley, cannabis, pepper and dozens of other crops," said Kantar. The approach also saves time. Instead of testing thousands of plants in the field, scientists use a smaller, diverse"mini-core" group to forecast how crops will perform in different environments. This helps breeders quickly select the best parents for new, climate-resilient varieties. "This method will help us keep pace with the hotter temperatures and increased risk of flooding from Earth's changing climate and help develop new varieties to ensure food security," Kantar said. Researchers discovered that nations with high sorghum use may need genetic resources from other countries to effectively adapt to climate change stressing the value of global teamwork in securing the world's food supply.Quinn Campbell, Nora Castañeda-Álvarez, Ryan Domingo, Eric Bishop-von Wettberg, Bryan Runck, Hervé Nandkangré, Anna Halpin-McCormick, Nathan Fumia, Jeffrey Neyhart, Benjamin Kilian, Peterson Wambugu, Desterio Nyamongo, Sariel Hübner, Sidney Sitar, Addie Thompson, Loren Rieseberg, Michael A. Gore, Michael B. Kantar.This Valentine's Day, millions of pounds worth of chocolate will be exchanged as gifts, but climate change and biodiversity loss imperil future global supplies of this treat. A new research study ... As climate change accelerates, scientists are sounding the alarm about its potentially devastating impact on the world's food supply. Researchers warn that without rapid changes to how we develop ... Examining how human culture evolves in response to a changing environment may help with creating more effective climate change adaptation efforts. Using farming data from across the U.S., a team of ... How is the weather changing as a consequence of global warming? Climate archives provide valuable glimpses into past climate changes, especially into the processes that drive our planet from one ...
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