Groundnut, or peanut, is an industrial oilseed crop that serves the food and feed industries and provides income along the value chain. Pre‐ and post‐harvest aflatoxin contamination, caused by
Aspergillus
spp., hinders the food and feed value and market opportunities of groundnut products. Developing and deploying aflatoxin‐resistant varieties is the most sustainable and economic approach to control aflatoxin for human and animal well‐being. Variable resistance to
Aspergillus
infection and disease development has been reported, depending on cultivar susceptibility, crop management practices, and environmental conditions. Hence, understanding the physical, biochemical, and genetic basis of resistance mechanisms to
Aspergillus
infection is vital for the design and deployment of new varieties. Despite modest global efforts, notably in effective aflatoxin diagnosis and identification of the toxic secondary metabolites, there are limited breeding efforts that have bred and deployed aflatoxin‐resistant varieties. This review aims to present the impacts of groundnut aflatoxin contamination and the progress and opportunities in resistance breeding using current technologies and innovations. The first section presents the production status of groundnut and the extent and conditions of aflatoxin contamination. Aflatoxin control methods and components of resistance are described in the second section, followed by progress and opportunities of resistance breeding with advanced technologies, including omics‐assisted and gene‐editing approaches. Information presented in the review may guide breeding and genetic management of aflatoxin, targeting the development of new varieties with desirable product profiles and durable resistance to control aflatoxin contamination along value chains.
Tullu Tadessa Asefa, Hussein Shimelis, J. Pasupuleti et al.· Food and Energy Security· 0 citations
Maize streak virus (MSV) is a major constraint on maize production in the dry and hot tropics, where susceptible cultivars suffer complete yield loss. The objective of this study was to assess the response of tropical-environment-adapted maize inbred lines for MSV resistance and major agronomic traits to identify parental lines for resistance breeding.
Seventy-four inbred lines, including six controls, were evaluated under artificial MSV inoculation over two seasons using an 8 × 10 alpha lattice design.
A significant variability (P ≤ 0.05) was detected among genotypes for MSV resistance and yield components. Area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) ranged from 0.00 to 240.6, disease incidence from 0 to 100%, and grain yield from 0.54 to 4.99 t ha⁻¹. Genotype-by-season interactions were significant for disease incidence and yield-related traits, with most traits showing moderate to high heritability. MSV disease parameters were negatively correlated with grain yield and agronomic traits. Elite parental lines MM05, MM17, MM19, and MM25 were identified as valuable donor parents combining MSV resistance with superior grain yield and favourable agronomic performance. Lines MM10, MM11 and MM72 were identified for hybrid breeding due to their combination of high grain yield and MSV tolerance. Finally, MM36 and MM35 were recognised for their outstanding grain yield performance, attributable to their MSV tolerance.
The identified inbred lines provide complementary sources of MSV resistance and represent valuable donor parents for introgression and developing high-yielding MSV-resistant maize hybrids.
Malven Mushayi, Hussein Shimelis, S. A. Tesfamariam et al.· Frontiers in Agronomy· 0 citations
Introduction Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a high-potential, climate-resilient and nutrient-rich small cereal with growing potential for food, feed, and other value-added products across various market segments. Knowledge on the combining ability and heterosis of breeding populations under contrasting water regimes is essential for genetic improvement of the crop for economics traits. The aim of this study was to determine the combining ability, heterosis, and the nature of gene action of selected Ethiopian finger millet parents for economic traits in hybrid combinations to guide the selection of best families and new breeding populations. Methods A 7 × 10 line × tester mating design was used, and the resultant 70 F1 hybrids and 17 parents were evaluated under non-stressed (NST) and drought-stress (ST) conditions across greenhouse and field environments. Genotypes were profiled for major agronomic traits: plant height (PTH), days to 50% flowering (DTF), days to maturity (DTM), number of productive tillers per plant (NT), primary finger length (FL), ear length (EL), number of fingers per ear (NF), grain yield (GY), harvest index (HI), and thousand seed weight (TSW). Results Line (GCAL), tester (GCAT), and line × tester (SCA) mean squares were significant (p < 0.001) for all assessed traits, indicating contributions of both additive and non-additive gene actions in the inheritance of agronomic and physiological traits. Grain yield declined by 57% in parental genotypes and 62% in F1 hybrids under drought stress; however, several superior crosses exhibited relatively lower yield penalties (-51%), indicating enhanced drought resilience. Additive genetic effect predominantly conditioned the inheritance of DTF, EL, DTM under ST conditions, whereas non-additive effects were more important for NT and DTM under NST conditions. Broad-sense heritability (H2) for GY was higher under ST (0.51) than NST (0.13) conditions, necessitating multiple testing environments for drought tolerance evaluation and selection. Lines such as G3, G2, and G4 and testers such as G14, G8, G13, G17, and G10 exhibited higher general combining ability effects for GY in a desirable trend, in that order. Furthermore, crosses G85, G31, G79, G38, G48, G54, G64, and G65 exhibited higher specific combining ability effects and heterosis for GY under ST conditions. Discussion The results demonstrated substantial genetic variability for grain yield and related traits with additive and non-additive gene actions. This guides effective selection based on additive and non-additive gene effects in finger millet improvement. The selected parents and the top crosses are recommended for breeding and selecting new-generation, drought-adapted finger millet genotypes.
Adane Gebreyohannes, Hussein Shimelis, J. Mashilo et al.· Frontiers in Plant Science· 0 citations
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