Crop adaptation to climate change as a consequence of long-term breeding
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REVIEW
Crop adaptation to climate change as a consequence of long‑term breeding Rod J. Snowdon1 · Benjamin Wittkop1 · Tsu‑Wei Chen2 · Andreas Stahl1,3 Received: 19 August 2020 / Accepted: 11 November 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Major global crops in high-yielding, temperate cropping regions are facing increasing threats from the impact of climate change, particularly from drought and heat at critical developmental timepoints during the crop lifecycle. Research to address this concern is frequently focused on attempts to identify exotic genetic diversity showing pronounced stress tolerance or avoidance, to elucidate and introgress the responsible genetic factors or to discover underlying genes as a basis for targeted genetic modification. Although such approaches are occasionally successful in imparting a positive effect on performance in specific stress environments, for example through modulation of root depth, major-gene modifications of plant architecture or function tend to be highly context-dependent. In contrast, long-term genetic gain through conventional breeding has incrementally increased yields of modern crops through accumulation of beneficial, small-effect variants which also confer yield stability via stress adaptation. Here we reflect on retrospective breeding progress in major crops and the impact of long-term, conventional breeding on climate adaptation and yield stability under abiotic stress constraints. Looking forward, we outline how new approaches might complement conventional breeding to maintain and accelerate breeding progress, despite the challenges of climate change, as a prerequisite to sustainable future crop productivity. Keywords Genetic gain · Abiotic stress · Breeding progress · Yield
Key message Breeding is a long-term process. Conventional selection procedures consider plant performance in multiple environments over many years and are thus well-suited for adaptation to climate change. However, modern breeding technologies can help to accelerate the incremental accumulation of Communicated by Peter Langridge. * Rod J. Snowdon [email protected]‑giessen.de 1
Department of Plant Breeding, IFZ Research Centre for Biosystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich‑Buff‑Ring 26, 35392 Giessen, Germany
2
Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin, Lentzeallee 75, 14195 Berlin, Germany
3
Institute for Resistance Research and Stress Tolerance, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI), Erwin‑Baur‑Strasse 27, 06484 Quedlinburg, Germany
positive alleles for “invisible” physiological traits underlying climate adaptation.
Introduction: the complexity of climate response traits Crop growth and performance are impacted by a complex interplay with a multitude of interacting environmental (E) and management factors (M), with climate variation explaining a considerable proportion of global crop yield variation (Ray et al. 2015). Both E and M interac
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