Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001
Performing Department
Chillicothe-vernon TAMU Ag Res Cntr
Non Technical Summary
Cowpea: Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is diploid legume species (2n=2x=22) that is cultivated on over 14 million hectares worldwide with Nigeria being the lead producer (Singh et al., 2003). Cowpea cultivation is prevalent in Texas (Verbree et al., 2015). Cowpea is a nutrient-sense crop and provides an affordable source of protein to human consumption (Weng et al., 2017). Cowpea can also fix atmospheric nitrogen and contribute to soil fertility. Organic agriculture has been the fastest growing component of the U.S. agriculture over the last decade (USDA NASS, 2020). The development of organic cowpea can increase profitability for farmers and provides consumers with healthier and more nutritious food. Therefore, breeding activities aiming at releasing organic cowpea cultivars are needed.Guar: Guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.), also known as clusterbean, is an annual summer legume that is grown in arid and semi-arid regions (Punia et al., 2009). In the U.S., guar cultivation is prevalent in the southern part of the country. Guar gum is used in food and pharmaceutical products (Gaikwad et al., 2020). Guar gum is also used in the oil industry. The annual U.S. guar import is estimated at $1.1 billion (https://lubbock.tamu.edu/programs/crops/other-field-crops/guar/). Over the last 50 years, only 9 guar cultivars have been released in the U.S. Therefore, breeding efforts aiming at releasing more guar genotypes with higher yield and adapted to the Texas environments are needed. In addition, developing early maturing guar will help in avoiding early freeze during harvest. Nodulation is also problematic in guar. Understanding the genetic mechanism of nodulation in guar can assist with developing guar cultivars with improved nodulation.Lentils: Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) is one of the most important cool season legumes grown in America, Australia, and India (Haddad et al., 2020). Lentils provide protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients for human consumption (Laskar et al., 2018). Lentils are profitable crops with a market price ranging from $510 to $600 per metric ton (https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2017/12/25/viability-lentil-wheat-rotation-studied-rolling-plains/)The adaptation to cold temperatures and freeze is a trait of interest in developing winter lentil cultivars. In addition, the relatively high temperature during late fall in the Southern Great Plains will promote seedling vigor in fall-sown lentils and increase adaptation during freeze, and the rapid rise in air and soil temperatures during late winter will accelerate plant regrowth after freeze. Therefore, developing lentils adapted to cold temperatures will further enhance winter lentil production in the Southern Great Plains.Organic barley: The demand in barley with improved malting quality has rapidly increased in Texas during the last decade. The success of the brewing industry heavily relies on the availability of barley with improved malting quality. In addition, the organic barley value has been increased from $ 1.5 million in 2011 to more than $ 3.4 million in 2019 (USDA NASS, 2020) with Texas contributing to less than 1% of the total value in 2019 despite the increasing demand. Developing organic barley with improved malting quality and adapted to dryland conditions will assist barley growers in Texas with increasing profitability.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
i) To release legume cultivars with improved agronomics and nutritional quality and adapted to organic farming systems, ii) To explore advanced phenotyping strategies for high-throughput phenotyping in legumes, iii) To release organic barley cultivars adapted to dryland conditions and cold temperature.
Project Methods
i) To release legume cultivars with improved agronomics and nutritional quality and adapted to organic farming systemsObjective 1: Mapping loci associated with early maturity, drought, heat, salinity in cowpea and guar, and winter hardiness in winter lentilsCowpea, guar, and lentil breeding lines from Texas A&M AgriLife Research and collaborators will be evaluated for agronomics and abiotic stresses in greenhouse and field. Up to recently, a Material Transfer Agreement has been signed between Texas A&M AgriLife (TAMU) and the University of Arkansas (UA) for evaluating cowpea breeding lines from UA for adaptation to Texas environments. Crosses will be made to develop mapping populations for Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) identification using the TAMU lines. In order to increase the genetic diversity of the germplasm, Plant Introductions (PIs) will be requested from the USDA-ARS Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) and evaluated for agronomics and abiotic stresses along with the breeding lines. In addition to QTL mapping, we will conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify molecular markers associated with the trait of interest. These molecular markers will be used for cultivar development via Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) or genomic selection (GS). RNA sequencing and epigenomics will be also used for further understanding the mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance.Objective 2: Improving nutritional quality in legumes The key biochemical composition of advanced breeding lines will be identified using Raman Spectroscopy ,a non-destructive method, which will be validated using wet lab techniques. The biochemical composition will inform on the nutritional quality of legume breeding lines that are promising candidates for release. Cowpea, guar, and winter lentils advanced breeding lines will be planted in multiple locations in Texas in order to assess the Genotype X Environment effect on nutrient composition.Objective 3: Enhancing nitrogen fixation, pest and disease resistance, and yield in cowpea, guar, and winter lentilsCowpea, guar, and winter lentil germplasm will be evaluated for biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) to assess the nitrogen fixation capabilities on organic plots. GWAS will be conducted to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with BNF. Search for candidate genes in the vicinity of the SNPs will be conducted. The candidate genes will be validated using a real-time Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR. The evaluation of pest and disease resistance on organic plots will be more efficient since pesticide/fungicide applications are not allowed in organic farming systems. Crop yield from organic production is lower than in conventional agriculture. Cowpea, guar, and winter lentils will be selected for yield potential on certified organic plots at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Vernon, Lubbock, and Stephenville. Yield evaluation will be also conducted on farmers' certified organic plots.ii) To explore advanced phenotyping strategies for high-throughput phenotyping in legumesObjective 1: Testing the feasibility of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for phenotyping agronomic traits in legumesThe use of UAS for field phenotyping can accelerate plant breeding. Efforts to assess the feasibility of UAS phenotyping for evaluating agronomics and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses in legumes remain limited. Drone images will be collected from guar, cowpea, and field plots established at Vernon, TX. The effects of various sensors and plot size on the estimation accuracy of stand count, canopy coverage, biomass, and flowering intensity will be evaluated. UAS data will be collected at least twice a month during the vegetative stage and weekly during the reproductive stage. The UAS data will be also combined with the genomic information to conduct a simulation-based breeding.Objective 2: Testing the feasibility of Raman Spectroscopy for abiotic stress phenotyping and nutrient composition analysis in legumesRaman Spectroscopy (RS) is a non-destructive approach to analyze nutrient composition. RS data will be gathered from the cowpea, guar, and lentil seeds. The RS data will be used to establish calibration curves for assessing nutrient composition. Wet lab standard procedures will be conducted to validate the RS data. In addition, spectra will be collected to evaluate legume responses to drought, heat, and salinity.iii) To release organic barley cultivars with improved malting quality and adapted to dryland conditions and cold temperatureObjective 1: Improving malting quality in organic barleyBarley breeding lines will be planted on certified organic plots at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension at Vernon and Lubbock. Protein will be analyzed from barley seeds and lines with a low protein content will be selected for parents since low-protein barley cultivars have a better malting quality (Eagles et al., 1995). The low-protein parents will be used to develop low-protein barley populations that will be used for selection of other traits such as weed competitiveness, and pest and disease resistance.Objective 2: Screening for high-yield barley under dryland and cold temperature conditionsDeveloping high-yield barley under organic farming systems will generate more revenues to barley growers in Texas. However, a large portion of the winter barley production in Texas is conducted under dryland conditions. Field experiments will be conducted to screen for adaptation to dryland conditions among breeding lines from Texas A&M University and Penn State University. Up to recently, the Organic and Specialty Breeding Program at Vernon received 3 barley materials from Penn State.