About this Research Topic

Background

Crop wild relatives are genetic treasure troves with the fullest potential to introgress genes with various desirable traits, especially nutritional, stress tolerance, and adaptability to climate change, for present-day crop improvement programs. Understanding the phenotypic variability and identification of candidate genes underlying those variabilities in crop wild relatives (CWRs) is much required to sustainably drive crop improvement programs. Genome-scale approaches using next-generation sequencing technologies and their functional validation in CWRs for utilization in cultivars are upcoming. Realizing the potential of the CWRs to address the challenges in agriculture and the environment like climate change (including abiotic stress), biotic stress tolerance, and enhanced nutrition in cultivars; genomic tools in combination with phenomics are helpful in accelerating the researchable issues or problems to find suitable solutions proven for crop improvement, or to exhibit the proof-of-concept approaches that would help improve the crops in the near future.

This research topic focuses on the application of genomics/phenomics in CWRs for crop improvement, bringing together similar research groups to broaden our perspectives and trans-utilization of the novel gene sources to address the challenges in multiple ways and at different places across the globe, depending on the need. This would also serve as a handy source of information for beginners and research professionals who are stepping to re-orient the genomics strategies and tools for the CWRs utilization.

This topic will enrich the knowledge of the CWRs and the identified products in the form of candidate genes or markers for the desired traits that will be utilized in the crop improvement programs across the crop groups of the CWRs identified using gen(om)e editing tools. We also aim to deliver an understanding of utilizing the genomic and phenomic (phenotyping for agronomic, physiological, and biochemical traits) tools in different perspectives or approaches on the source CWRs from across the species to develop transgenic or conventional introgression of the genes of interest in the cultivars for crop improvement.

Therefore, we invite contributions on the following, but not limited to, themes to enrich the innovative ways of utilizing genomic tools to unleash the power of CWRs that would transform the current day cultivars, or to develop newer crops (from the CWRs with modifications) in a way to address issues such as climate change, stress factors, and nutrition enrichment:

- Chromosome-scale genome sequencing for the CWRs with potential genes/pathways identified in the CWR for its use in the crop improvement program.

- Transforming the CWRs into potential crops as a part of de novo domestication or identification of genes associated with domestication, using genomics-assisted tools.

- Genes associated with functional variability for agronomic, physiological, and biochemical traits (including photosynthetic traits) that would help enhance carbon capture and thereby increase the biomass and yield in cultivars

- Phenomics approaches in combination with genomics scale data to understand the trait mechanism and its genetic basis for successful implementation in crop plants

- Identification of candidate genes/pathways using CWRs and contrasting genotypes with the transcriptome-based RNA-seq or marker-based genome-wide association approaches or model-based genomic selection approaches for climate resilience, nutritional enrichment, and stress tolerance, for better adaptation and yield.

Keywords: genes, crop, wild, climate change, genomics, abiotic stress, biotic, genomic, phenomic, CWR, trans-utilization, agronomic, phenotyping

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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