{"id":3891,"date":"2015-01-30T10:34:02","date_gmt":"2015-01-30T16:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/?p=3891"},"modified":"2016-02-22T17:10:29","modified_gmt":"2016-02-22T23:10:29","slug":"a-little-research-goes-a-long-way-for-lentils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/2015\/01\/30\/a-little-research-goes-a-long-way-for-lentils\/","title":{"rendered":"A little research goes a long way for lentils"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLittle had been done to advance the genetic diversity of lentils.\u201d This was the picture back in 2005, recalls Aladdin Hamwieh, a scientist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)<\/a> based in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\u201cLentil has a narrow genetic base, meaning not too many varieties are used in production,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
A small sample of the lentil diversity available in the ICARDA gene bank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was on this premise that Aladdin joined a three-year global effort to capture and understand the genetic diversity of the world\u2019s lentil varieties \u2013 a protein-rich crop that plays an integral part in the lives of many people in Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA), South Asia and North America.<\/p>\n

He was funded by the CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme (GCP)<\/a> to develop a refined set of genetic reference materials for lentils so that plant breeders across the globe could access the best gene pool available to be able to improve food security in developing countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially, the genetic make-up of lentil was repeatedly filtered until 15 percent of ICARDA\u2019s gene bank was collected,\u201d says Aladdin.<\/p>\n

ICARDA has the largest collection of lentil genes in the world. Some work had been done on improving the genetics of lentils to withstand harsh, dry conditions. But it was not enough to prepare for the challenge the world is now facing \u2013 feeding almost 10 billion people by 2050 and climate conditions that mean longer dry periods and more erratic rainfall.<\/p>\n

\"ICARDA<\/a><\/p>\n

The reference set captures the existing genetic diversity of lentils and makes it easier for scientists to search for genes that can help overcome the challenges to lentil production. It consists of about 150 accessions, or 15 per cent of the global collection studied (see box).<\/p>\n

Creating the reference set immediately helped researchers to understand more about lentils. \u201cThe major outcome was that different gene pools were identified where accessions from Europe and America were clearly separated from Asia and Africa,\u201d Aladdin says. \u201cAccessions from India, Afghanistan and Pakistan were also separated from accessions from the Middle East and North Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

A common resource for lentil breeders<\/h3>\n

International cooperation and knowledge sharing are hallmarks of GCP, with one of the Programme\u2019s key goals being to facilitate collaboration between scientists from across the globe in breeding new varieties of crops that can not only tolerate drought, but also resist diseases and tolerate poor soils. Ashutosh Sarker, a former lentil breeder and currently Coordinator and Food Legume Breeder for ICARDA\u2019s South Asia and China Regional Program, says production challenges for lentils vary from country to country. While demand is rising globally, he says, some developing countries are having trouble meeting their own need for this staple food.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
A woman farmer with lentils in Bihar, India.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was where the GCP work came in; its purpose, according to Aladdin, was to \u201cdevelop a diverse reference set that is small and easy to handle. This way, it can be sent around the world for scientists to simultaneously screen for desirable or undesirable traits. This has important implications for developing countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reference collection serves as a common resource for all lentil breeders interested in the same crop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese materials can be accessed to achieve farming goals \u2013 to produce tough plants suitable for local environments. In doing this, farmers have a greater likelihood of success, which ultimately improves the wider population\u2019s food security.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Aladdin\u2019s team studied the reference collection, they were able to identify favourable genes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis enables us to look at the genes of plants and highlight those traits that best suit certain environments,\u201d he says, \u201cand then breed plants to be better adapted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lentils<\/a><\/p>\n

Diversity is key to searching for valuable breeding traits<\/h3>\n

Shiv Kumar Agrawal, who joined ICARDA in 2009, uses the reference set developed for GCP to identify and create markers for drought-tolerant and early-maturing traits for key lentil-producing countries, including Bangladesh, Ethiopia and India.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeveloping more markers will help mitigate lentil\u2019s barriers to production,\u201d says Shiv, pointing to climate change and rising temperatures in production zones as adversely affecting lentil yields.<\/p>\n

Markers are like genetic \u2018tags\u2019 that indicate which plants or seeds have particular genes, so markers related to relevant genes \u2013 for traits such as heat tolerance, for example \u2013 can help breeders choose which plant materials to use when developing a new variety.<\/p>\n

\u201cBreeding for this should be a priority,\u201d he continues. \u201cDeveloping heat-tolerant lentil plants would help to expand the area of legume cultivation, stabilise yield in areas prone to heat stress and mitigate impacts of global climate change in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the same for other traits, he says, which would improve food security in developing countries: \u201cDeveloping extra-early breeds of lentils has great scope in diversifying cropping methods and gives more flexibility for farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Farmers in Ethiopia winnow orange lentils.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Karthika Rajendran, a postdoctoral student working with Shiv at ICARDA, uses both conventional and molecular-breeding approaches to develop heat-tolerant lentil cultivars that mature early. The products of GCP, she says, are \u201chelpful to identify the source of genetic diversity and molecular markers for the traits identified under each research targets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Shiv, Karthika stresses the value of heat-tolerant varieties for heat-stressed areas and in reducing the impacts of climate change, and adds that improving other traits alongside also has significant impacts: \u201cThe development of machine-harvestable lentils reduces the production cost, increases the farm profit, reduces the drudgery of women and improves the nutritional and food security of smallholder farmers in developing countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Farmer Minto with lentils in his field in Bangladesh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While achieving such lentil varieties may be some way down the track, Shiv and Karthika offer a small glimpse of what the future holds and the promise of making even more from GCP\u2019s genetic reference set than what has been achieved so far.<\/p>\n

Preserving genetic resources<\/h3>\n

Aladdin Hamwieh is also looking to the future: \u201cWe don\u2019t know what tomorrow brings, so people need to understand the value of such genetic reference material.\u201d<\/p>\n

He reflects on the reality of how civil unrest in developing countries often means local agriculture is disrupted and crops destroyed, which can mean the loss of traditional varieties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could lose interesting genes from these,\u201d says Aladdin. \u201cWe must therefore maintain and protect the ICARDA database, because it stores important information that the next generation won\u2019t be able to study in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aladdin is adamant that this is important not only for developing countries but for the whole world. \u201cWe can\u2019t make genes in future so this one we cannot lose,\u201d he stresses.<\/p>\n

A \u2018backup\u2019 duplicate copy of ICARDA\u2019s lentil collection is stored in the Arctic Circle at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.<\/p>\n

Groundwork on lentils \u2018gave orientation to future breeding efforts\u2019<\/h3>\n

Although GCP\u2019s genetic research work on lentils came to an end in 2007, scientists all over the world can still access the materials \u2013 and are reaping other benefits from GCP\u2019s work too. For example, ICARDA is using GCP\u2019s Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP)<\/a> \u2013 particularly the Breeding Management System (BMS)<\/a> \u2013 for its lentil-breeding programme.<\/p>\n

Reflecting GCP\u2019s collaborative spirit, Shiv explains that his team have not only successfully integrated use of BMS within their own programme, but have also included it in regular training programmes for developing country partners.<\/p>\n

Karthika says, \u201cWe use the BMS to store historical data of crossing blocks and germplasm collections and to create fieldbooks, field maps and labels of yield trials. We use the crossing manager to build up the list of the crossing blocks, and the breeding manager to maintain the pedigree of the breeding programme.\u201d<\/p>\n

She explains that within the BMS, \u201cthe breeding view demonstrated a great potential to analyse the phenotypic and genotypic data for single and multienvironmental conditions,\u201d and notes that \u201cthe Molecular Breeding Design Tool would be useful in the process of marker-assisted selection.\u201d<\/p>\n

ICARDA plans to implement the BMS to develop fieldbooks for Lentil International Elite Nurseries, using the\u00a0IBFieldbook tool, and to distribute the books to developing country partners for data collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the database is centralised, it will facilitate rapid access to breeding material and easy sharing of knowledge and technology to the developing country partners,\u201d says Karthika.<\/p>\n

Such ongoing advances in breeding technologies since the outset of GCP mean the refining process can continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not stop,\u201d says Aladdin, encouraging other lentil breeders and researchers to continue their work.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
A female farmer in India helps to harvest lentils by sifting them after fellow workers have beaten the stalks to remove the seeds from their pods.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLittle had been done to advance the genetic diversity of lentils.\u201d This was the picture back in 2005, recalls Aladdin Hamwieh, a scientist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) based in Lebanon. \u201cLentil has a narrow genetic base, meaning not too many varieties are used in production,\u201d he explains. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,88,160,43,289,339,340],"tags":[18,86,38,9,575,576,191,247,101,116,23,343,223,70,90,111,24,106,203,342,129,97,248,574,128,341,142,36,345,204,344],"class_list":["post-3891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-asia","category-genetics","category-integrated-breeding-platform","category-legumes-2","category-lentils","category-phase-i-crops","tag-crop-breeding","tag-drought-tolerance","tag-molecular-breeding","tag-partnerships","tag-africa","tag-asia","tag-bangladesh","tag-breeding-management-system-bms","tag-conventional-breeding","tag-crop-genes","tag-crop-genetic-diversity","tag-cwana","tag-disease-resistance","tag-ethiopia","tag-gene-discovery","tag-genebanks","tag-genetic-diversity","tag-genetic-resources","tag-heat-tolerance","tag-icarda","tag-india","tag-integrated-breeding","tag-integrated-breeding-fieldbook-ib-fb","tag-integrated-breeding-platform","tag-legumes","tag-lentils-2","tag-molecular-markers","tag-phase-i","tag-poor-soils","tag-reference-set","tag-south-asia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3891"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5194,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3891\/revisions\/5194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationcp.org\/sunsetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}