RESUMO
Crop wild relatives (CWR) intra- and interspecific diversity is essential for crop breeding and food security. However, intraspecific genetic diversity, which is central given the idiosyncratic threats to species in landscapes, is usually not considered in planning frameworks. Here, we introduce an approach to develop proxies of genetic differentiation to identify conservation areas, applying systematic conservation planning tools that produce hierarchical prioritizations of the landscape. It accounts for: (i) evolutionary processes, including historical and environmental drivers of genetic diversity, and (ii) threat processes, considering taxa-specific tolerance to human-modified habitats, and their extinction risk status. Our analyses can be used as inputs for developing national action plans for the conservation and use of CWR. Our results also inform public policy to mitigate threat processes to CWR (like crops living modified organisms or agriculture subsidies), and could advise future research (e.g. for potential germplasm collecting). Although we focus on Mesoamerican CWR within Mexico, our methodology offers opportunities to effectively guide conservation and monitoring strategies to safeguard the evolutionary resilience of any taxa, including in regions of complex evolutionary histories and mosaic landscapes.
Assuntos
Conservação dos Recursos Naturais , Melhoramento Vegetal , Humanos , Produtos Agrícolas/genética , Agricultura/métodos , Evolução BiológicaRESUMO
Mexico is recognized as the center of origin and domestication of maize. Introduction of modern maize varieties (MVs) into Mexico raised concerns regarding the possible effects of gene flow from MVs into maize landraces (LRs) and their wild relatives (WRs), teosintes. However, after more than 60 y from the release of the first MVs, the impact of the sympatry with LRs and their WRs has not been explored with genetic data. In this work, we assessed changes in the genomes of 7 maize LRs and 2 WR subspecies from collections spanning over 70 y. We compared the genotypes obtained by genotyping by sequencing (GBS) for LRs and WRs before and after the adoption of MVs, and observed introgression from sympatric MVs into LRs and into the WR Zea mays ssp. mexicana sampled after the year 2000. We also found a decrease in the paired divergence index (FST ) between MV-LR and MV-WR over the same time frame. Moreover, we determined that LR genetic diversity increased after 2000, probably as a result of gene flow from MVs introduced in the 1990s. Our findings allowed us to identify ongoing changes in the domesticated and wild maize genetic pools, and concur with previous works that have evaluated short-term gene flow from MVs into LRs in other crops. Our approach represents a useful tool for tracking evolutionary change in wild and domesticated genetic resources, as well as for developing strategies for their conservation.
Assuntos
Fluxo Gênico/genética , Genoma de Planta/genética , Zea mays/genética , Produtos Agrícolas/genética , Domesticação , Pool Gênico , Variação Genética/genética , Genótipo , México , Simpatria/genéticaRESUMO
Adaptation of crops to climate change has motivated an increasing interest in the potential value of novel traits from wild species; maize wild relatives, the teosintes, harbor traits that may be useful to maize breeding. To study the ecogeographic distribution of teosinte we constructed a robust database of 2363 teosinte occurrences from published sources for the period 1842-2016. A geographical information system integrating 216 environmental variables was created for Mexico and Central America and was used to characterize the environment of each teosinte occurrence site. The natural geographic distribution of teosinte extends from the Western Sierra Madre of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico to the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, including practically the entire western part of Mesoamerica. The Mexican annuals Zea mays ssp. parviglumis and Zea mays ssp. mexicana show a wide distribution in Mexico, while Zea diploperennis, Zea luxurians, Zea perennis, Zea mays ssp. huehuetenangensis, Zea vespertilio and Zea nicaraguensis had more restricted and distinct ranges, representing less than 20% of the total occurrences. Only 11.2% of teosinte populations are found in Protected Natural Areas in Mexico and Central America. Ecogeographical analysis showed that teosinte can cope with extreme levels of precipitation and temperatures during growing season. Modelling teosinte geographic distribution demonstrated congruence between actual and potential distributions; however, some areas with no occurrences appear to be within the range of adaptation of teosintes. Field surveys should be prioritized to such regions to accelerate the discovery of unknown populations. Potential areas for teosintes Zea mays ssp. mexicana races Chalco, Nobogame, and Durango, Zea mays ssp. huehuetenangensis, Zea luxurians, Zea diploperennis and Zea nicaraguensis are geographically separated; however, partial overlapping occurs between Zea mays ssp. parviglumis and Zea perennis, between Zea mays ssp. parviglumis and Zea diploperennis, and between Zea mays ssp. mexicana race Chalco and Zea mays ssp. mexicana race Central Plateau. Assessing priority of collecting for conservation showed that permanent monitoring programs and in-situ conservation projects with participation of local farmer communities are critically needed; Zea mays ssp. mexicana (races Durango and Nobogame), Zea luxurians, Zea diploperennis, Zea perennis and Zea vespertilio should be considered as the highest priority taxa.
Assuntos
Ecossistema , Geografia , Zea mays/classificação , Especificidade da EspécieRESUMO
Background At present, species known as camote de cerro (Dioscorea spp.) are found only in the wilderness in Mexico, but their populations are extremely depleted because they are indiscriminately collected, it is urgent to evaluate the conservation status of these plants in order to design conservation genetics programs. In this study, genetic diversity parameters along with cluster analysis based on Jaccard's coefficient were estimated with the objective to assess the efficiency of Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and Inverse Sequence Tagged Repeat (ISTR) molecular DNA markers in the Dioscorea genus. Results The polymorphic information contents were quite similar for all markers (≈0.48). Genetic variation of Dioscorea spp., in terms of average heterozygosity was lower with ISTR (0.36), and higher when other markers were used (RAPD = 0.43; ISSR = 0.45 and AFLP = 0.47). Conclusion This indicates an important level of genetic differences despite the fact that the plant is asexually propagated. Based on the diversity statistics, any marker tested in present work can be recommended for use in large-scale genetic studies of populations. However, the low correlations among different molecular marker systems show the importance of the complementarity of the information that is generated by different markers for genetic studies involving estimation of polymorphism and relationships.