Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress
Background Prioritizing wild relative diversity for improving crop adaptation to emerging drought-prone environments is challenging. Here, we combine the genome-wide environmental scans (GWES) in wheat diploid ancestor Aegilops tauschii (Ae. tauschii) with allele testing in the genetic backgrounds o...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174037 |
| _version_ | 1855513156470702080 |
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| author | Nyine, M. Davidson, D. Adhikari, E. Clinesmith, M. Wang, H. Akhunova, A. Fritz, A. Akhunov, E. |
| author_browse | Adhikari, E. Akhunov, E. Akhunova, A. Clinesmith, M. Davidson, D. Fritz, A. Nyine, M. Wang, H. |
| author_facet | Nyine, M. Davidson, D. Adhikari, E. Clinesmith, M. Wang, H. Akhunova, A. Fritz, A. Akhunov, E. |
| author_sort | Nyine, M. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Background
Prioritizing wild relative diversity for improving crop adaptation to emerging drought-prone environments is challenging. Here, we combine the genome-wide environmental scans (GWES) in wheat diploid ancestor Aegilops tauschii (Ae. tauschii) with allele testing in the genetic backgrounds of adapted cultivars to identify diversity for improving wheat adaptation to water-limiting conditions.
Results
We evaluate the adaptive allele effects in Ae. tauschii-wheat introgression lines phenotyped for multiple traits under irrigated and water-limiting conditions using both unmanned aerial system-based imaging and conventional approaches. The GWES show that climatic gradients alone explain more than half of genomic variation in Ae. tauschii, with many alleles associated with climatic factors in Ae. tauschii being linked with improved performance of introgression lines under water-limiting conditions. We find that the most significant GWES signals associated with temperature annual range in the wild relative are linked with reduced canopy temperature in introgression lines and increased yield.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that introgression of climate-adaptive alleles from Ae. tauschii has the potential to improve wheat performance under water-limiting conditions, and that variants controlling physiological processes responsible for maintaining leaf temperature are likely among the targets of adaptive selection in a wild relative. Adaptive variation uncovered by GWES in wild relatives has the potential to improve climate resilience of crop varieties. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace174037 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1740372025-11-11T10:00:21Z Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress Nyine, M. Davidson, D. Adhikari, E. Clinesmith, M. Wang, H. Akhunova, A. Fritz, A. Akhunov, E. genomics ecogeographical analysis genetic diversity wheats drought tolerance Background Prioritizing wild relative diversity for improving crop adaptation to emerging drought-prone environments is challenging. Here, we combine the genome-wide environmental scans (GWES) in wheat diploid ancestor Aegilops tauschii (Ae. tauschii) with allele testing in the genetic backgrounds of adapted cultivars to identify diversity for improving wheat adaptation to water-limiting conditions. Results We evaluate the adaptive allele effects in Ae. tauschii-wheat introgression lines phenotyped for multiple traits under irrigated and water-limiting conditions using both unmanned aerial system-based imaging and conventional approaches. The GWES show that climatic gradients alone explain more than half of genomic variation in Ae. tauschii, with many alleles associated with climatic factors in Ae. tauschii being linked with improved performance of introgression lines under water-limiting conditions. We find that the most significant GWES signals associated with temperature annual range in the wild relative are linked with reduced canopy temperature in introgression lines and increased yield. Conclusions Our results suggest that introgression of climate-adaptive alleles from Ae. tauschii has the potential to improve wheat performance under water-limiting conditions, and that variants controlling physiological processes responsible for maintaining leaf temperature are likely among the targets of adaptive selection in a wild relative. Adaptive variation uncovered by GWES in wild relatives has the potential to improve climate resilience of crop varieties. 2025 2025-04-08T10:44:48Z 2025-04-08T10:44:48Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174037 en Open Access application/pdf Nyine, M., Davidson, D., Adhikari, E., Clinesmith, M., Wang, H., Akhunova, A., ... & Akhunov, E. (2025). Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress. Genome Biology, 26(1): 35, 1-24. |
| spellingShingle | genomics ecogeographical analysis genetic diversity wheats drought tolerance Nyine, M. Davidson, D. Adhikari, E. Clinesmith, M. Wang, H. Akhunova, A. Fritz, A. Akhunov, E. Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress |
| title | Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress |
| title_full | Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress |
| title_fullStr | Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress |
| title_short | Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress |
| title_sort | genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress |
| topic | genomics ecogeographical analysis genetic diversity wheats drought tolerance |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174037 |
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