A crop wild relative (CWR) is a wild plant closely related to a domesticated plant. It may be a wild ancestor of the domesticated (cultivated) plant or another closely related taxon. CWRs are reservoirs of valuable traits, including diverse forms of resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses, which remain crucial for the adaptation of modern cultivars to current and future climates. CWRs have been used for decades in crop improvement for enhancing plant performance as they have provided breeders with several 'game-changing' traits or genes that have boosted crop resilience and global agricultural production.
Many accessions of CWR currently held in genebanks lack essential information, including where they were collected, their basic characteristics, what they may be useful for, and whether they are a unique sample or a duplicate of another. Extensive consultation with experts identified this lack of passport, characterization, and evaluation information on both wild germplasm and intermediary materials as the biggest constraint to increasing the utilization of CWR in breeding. Lack of clarity surrounding the specific roles of actors along the pre-breeding continuum and coordination among basic and applied research communities, along with funding and capacity limitations, has inhibited the systematic use of the breadth of wild species diversity available today.
Advances in breeding and genomics have accelerated the identification of valuable CWRs for use in crop improvement. The enhanced genetic diversity of breeding pools that carry optimum combinations of favorable alleles for targeted crop-growing regions is crucial for sustaining genetic gain. In parallel, growing sequence information on wild genomes combined with precise gene-editing tools provides a fast-track route to transform CWRs into ideal future crops.
Data-informed germplasm collection and management strategies and adequate policy support will be equally important to improve access to CWRs and their sustainable use to meet food and nutrition security targets. Trait discovery integrates both end-user demand with biological feasibility. Doing so improves the chances of successfully breeding for traits of interest. CWRs are undoubtedly ‘climate smart’, carrying genes that are important for the livelihoods and nutrition of poor farmers, especially in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Appropriate and focussed utilization of CWR is the need of the hour for making crops climate-smart.
In this Research Topic, we welcome submissions of all article types that explore the use of CWR to develop climate-smart crops, efficient database management of CWR and data-informed germplasm collection.
A crop wild relative (CWR) is a wild plant closely related to a domesticated plant. It may be a wild ancestor of the domesticated (cultivated) plant or another closely related taxon. CWRs are reservoirs of valuable traits, including diverse forms of resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses, which remain crucial for the adaptation of modern cultivars to current and future climates. CWRs have been used for decades in crop improvement for enhancing plant performance as they have provided breeders with several 'game-changing' traits or genes that have boosted crop resilience and global agricultural production.
Many accessions of CWR currently held in genebanks lack essential information, including where they were collected, their basic characteristics, what they may be useful for, and whether they are a unique sample or a duplicate of another. Extensive consultation with experts identified this lack of passport, characterization, and evaluation information on both wild germplasm and intermediary materials as the biggest constraint to increasing the utilization of CWR in breeding. Lack of clarity surrounding the specific roles of actors along the pre-breeding continuum and coordination among basic and applied research communities, along with funding and capacity limitations, has inhibited the systematic use of the breadth of wild species diversity available today.
Advances in breeding and genomics have accelerated the identification of valuable CWRs for use in crop improvement. The enhanced genetic diversity of breeding pools that carry optimum combinations of favorable alleles for targeted crop-growing regions is crucial for sustaining genetic gain. In parallel, growing sequence information on wild genomes combined with precise gene-editing tools provides a fast-track route to transform CWRs into ideal future crops.
Data-informed germplasm collection and management strategies and adequate policy support will be equally important to improve access to CWRs and their sustainable use to meet food and nutrition security targets. Trait discovery integrates both end-user demand with biological feasibility. Doing so improves the chances of successfully breeding for traits of interest. CWRs are undoubtedly ‘climate smart’, carrying genes that are important for the livelihoods and nutrition of poor farmers, especially in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Appropriate and focussed utilization of CWR is the need of the hour for making crops climate-smart.
In this Research Topic, we welcome submissions of all article types that explore the use of CWR to develop climate-smart crops, efficient database management of CWR and data-informed germplasm collection.
