Scientists have unlocked new secrets about the evolutionary history and diversity of peanuts, shedding light on the crop’s origin and offering fresh opportunities for breeding and cultivation practices.
An international research team composed of experts from the Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the University of Bari Aldo Moro, and Wageningen University & Research has published their findings in the journal Nature Genetics on Tuesday.
According to Zheng Zheng, vice head of the Institute of Crop Molecular Breeding at the Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, while peanuts are a globally cultivated oilseed crop, the events leading to their origin and diversification have been largely mysterious. “This has limited the exploitation and improvement of peanut germplasm resources,” Zheng explained.
The team combined chloroplast and whole-genome sequencing data from an extensive germplasm collection. Their analysis revealed that two subspecies of cultivated peanuts likely arose from distinct allopolyploidization and domestication events. “Peanut genetic clusters were then differentiated through dissemination routes and breeding efforts,” Zheng said.
By identifying key genes regulating subspecies differentiation, the scientists pinpointed nucleotides significantly associated with important phenotypic traits, such as flowering patterns, growth habits, pod and seed weight, and oil content.
“The data reported in this study provide an important genomic resource for the further and faster improvement of peanut genetics and can contribute to plant breeding practices,” Zheng noted.
Reference(s):
Cracking the peanut code: scientists uncover evolutionary secrets
cgtn.com
