A MAGIC population as an approach to the conservation and development of genetic diversity of winter barley for breeding purposes by on-farm management
2019
Additional genetic diversity in crop breeding programmes
and in crop production is required to better cope with the
impact of climate change. To complement ongoing activities
of winter barley breeders, an evolutionary plant
breeding programme has been initiated in 2008. Out of
227 German winter barley varieties released between 1914
and 2003, a set of 58 varieties was genetically analysed
using SSR markers. Among these, 32 genotypes representing
the genetic diversity of the whole set were
crossed according to the Multi-parent Advanced Generation
Inter-Cross scheme (MAGIC) over six generations.
The resulting 324 lines were combined to form a heterogeneous
MAGIC winter barley population. In order to
adapt to regional agricultural conditions, MAGIC subpopulations
are currently being cultivated within a network
of 12 eco-geographically contrasting locations and subjected
to natural site-related selection as evolutionary
bulks. Cultivation and seed saving will take place over a
period of 6 to 8 years under high and low input production
conditions. An information system named ROBUSTUM
has been developed for consistent recording of cultivation
conditions, of characterisation and evaluation data as
well as for documentation of the pedigree and for subsequent
data analyses. The present approach enables a
continuous and dynamic adaptation of the natural
genetic diversity present in our crops to climatic and
site-related agronomic changes. This makes the evolutionary
bulk particularly suitable for organic cultivation,
but also for marginal sites and locations with unfavourable
soil and weather conditions. In view of increasingly extreme
climatic conditions, these properties may become even
more important for agriculture in the future. Populations
also contribute to the maintenance and development of a
genetic diversity as broad as possible. This approach enables
estimation of the potential of evolutionary bulks to contribute
to the development of sustainable agricultural
production systems.
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