Legacy genetics of Arachis cardenasii in the peanut crop shows the profound benefits of international seed exchange.

The narrow genetics of most crops is a fundamental vulnerability to food security. This makes wild crop relatives a strategic resource of genetic diversity that can be used for crop improvement and adaptation to new agricultural challenges. Here, we uncover the contribution of one wild species accession, Arachis cardenasii GKP 10017, to the peanut crop (Arachis hypogaea) that was initiated by complex hybridizations in the 1960s and propagated by international seed exchange. However, until this study, the global scale of the dispersal of genetic contributions from this wild accession had been obscured by the multiple germplasm transfers, breeding cycles, and unrecorded genetic mixing between lineages that had occurred over the years. By genetic analysis and pedigree research, we identified A. cardenasii-enhanced, disease-resistant cultivars in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. These cultivars provide widespread improved food security and environmental and economic benefits. This study emphasizes the importance of wild species and collaborative networks of international expertise for crop improvement. However, it also highlights the consequences of the implementation of a patchwork of restrictive national laws and sea changes in attitudes regarding germplasm that followed in the wake of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Today, the botanical collections and multiple seed exchanges which enable benefits such as those revealed by this study are drastically reduced. The research reported here underscores the vital importance of ready access to germplasm in ensuring long-term world food security.

Molecular analysis of Arachis interspecific hybrids.

Incorporation of genetic resistance against several biotic stresses that plague cultivated peanut, Arachis hypogaea (2n = 4x = 40), is an ideal option to develop disease resistant and ecologically safe peanut varieties. The primary gene pool of peanut contains many diploid wild species (2n = 2x = 20) of Arachis, which have high levels of disease and insect resistances. However, transfer of resistant genes from these species into A. hypogaea is difficult due to ploidy level differences and genomic incompatibilities. This study was conducted to monitor alien germplasm transmission, using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers, from two diploid wild species, A. cardenasii and A. batizocoi, into A. hypogaea. Triploid interspecific hybrids were produced by crossing two A. hypogaea cultivars (NC 6 and Argentine) with the two species and by colchicine-treating vegetative meristems, fertility was restored at the hexaploid (C(o)) level in the four hybrids. Hexaploids were allowed to self-pollinate for four generations, each referred to as a cycle (C1, C2, C3, and C4). At each cycle, a backcross was made with the respective A. hypogaea cultivar as the maternal parent and only lineages tracing back to a single hexaploid hybrid were used for RAPD analysis. Analysis of mapped, species-specific RAPD markers in BC1F1 to BC1F3 hybrids indicated that alien germplasm retention decreased every generation of inbreeding, especially in Argentine and in A. batizocoi crosses. A similar trend was also observed for every cycle in BC1F2 and BC1F3 families, possibly, due to the loss of alien chromosomes following selfing of hexaploids. RAPD marker analysis of 40-chromosome interspecific hybrid derivatives from the four crosses supported previous reports that reciprocal recombination and/or translocations are the predominant mechanisms for exchange of chromosomal segments. No evidence was found for preferential transfer of alien chromosomal regions to specific linkage groups. The implications for developing disease resistant peanut breeding lines are discussed in light of these findings.

Genomic affinities in Arachis section Arachis (Fabaceae): molecular and cytogenetic evidence.

Section Arachis is the largest of nine sections in the genus Arachis and includes domesticated peanut, A. hypogaea L. Most species are diploids (x = 10) with two tetraploids and a few aneuploids. Three genome types have been recognized in this section (A, B and D), but the genomes are not well characterized and relationships of several newly described species are uncertain. To clarify genomic relationships in section Arachis, cytogenetic information and molecular data from amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and the trnT-F plastid region were used to provide an additional insight into genome composition and species relationships. Cytogenetic information supports earlier observations on genome types of A. cruziana, A. herzogii, A. kempff-mercadoi and A. kuhlmannii but was inconclusive about the genome composition of A. benensis, A. hoehnei, A. ipaensis, A. palustris, A. praecox and A. williamsii. An AFLP dendrogram resolved species into four major clusters and showed A. hypogaea grouping closely with A. ipaensis and A. williamsii. Sequence data of the trnT-F region provided genome-specific information and showed for the first time that the B and D genomes are more closely related to each other than to the A genome. Integration of information from cytogenetics and biparentally and maternally inherited genomic regions show promise in understanding genome types and relationships in Arachis.

Taxonomic relationships among Arachis sect. Arachis species as revealed by AFLP markers.

Cultivated peanut, Arachis hypogaea L., is a tetraploid (2n = 4x = 40) species thought to be of allopolyploid origin. Its closest relatives are the diploid (2n = 2x = 20) annual and perennial species included with it in Arachis sect. Arachis. Species in section Arachis represent an important source of novel alleles for improvement of cultivated peanut. A better understanding of the level of speciation and taxonomic relationships between taxa within section Arachis is a prerequisite to the effective use of this secondary gene pool in peanut breeding programs. The AFLP technique was used to determine intra- and interspecific relationships among and within 108 accessions of 26 species of this section. A total of 1328 fragments were generated with 8 primer combinations. From those, 239 bands ranging in size from 65 to 760 bp were scored as binary data. Genetic distances among accessions ranged from 0 to 0.50. Average distances among diploid species (0.30) were much higher than that detected between tetraploid species (0.05). Cluster analysis using different methods and principal component analysis were performed. The resulting grouping of accessions and species supports previous taxonomic classifications and genome designations. Based on genetic distances and cluster analysis, A-genome accessions KG 30029 (Arachis helodes) and KSSc 36009 (Arachis simpsonii) and B-genome accession KGBSPSc 30076 (A. ipaensis) were the most closely related to both Arachis hypogaea and Arachis monticola. This finding suggests their involvement in the evolution of the tetraploid peanut species.

Identification of RAPD, SCAR, and RFLP markers tightly linked to nematode resistance genes introgressed from Arachis cardenasii into Arachis hypogaea.

Two dominant genes conditioning resistance to the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne arenaria were identified in a segregating F2 population derived from the cross of 4x (Arachis hypogaea x Arachis cardenasii)-GA 6 and PI 261942. Mae is proposed as the designation for the dominant gene restricting egg number and Mag is proposed as the designation for the dominant gene restricting galling. The high levels of resistance in GA 6 were introgressed from A. cardenasii and, therefore, a search to identify A. cardenasii specific RAPD markers that are tightly linked to these resistance genes was conducted utilizing bulked segregant analysis. One RAPD marker (Z3/265) was linked at 10 +/- 2.5 (SE) and 14 +/- 2.9 cM from Mag and Mae, respectively. The marker was mapped to linkage group 1 at 5 cM from Xuga.cr239 in the backcross map in an area where introgression from A. cardenasii had previously been reported. This fragment was cloned and used to generate a pair of primers that specifically amplified this locus (sequence characterized amplified region, SCAR) and as a RFLP probe. Their close linkage with the resistance genes will be useful in marker-based selection while transferring nematode resistance from introgression lines into elite breeding lines and cultivars. The Z3/265 marker associated with the genes Mae or Mag was not found in other highly resistant Arachis species (Arachis batizocoi or Arachis stenosperma), in progenies of interspecific crosses with A. cardenasii that were moderately resistant, or in the resistant A. hypogaea lines PI 259634 and PI 259572. These represent the first molecular markers linked with a resistant gene in peanut and the first report of two physiological responses to nematode attack associated with two genetic factors.

Genetic diversity within the species Arachis duranensis Krapov. &W.C. Gregory, a possible progenitor of cultivated peanut.

Eighteen accessions of a diploid wild peanut species (Arachis duranensis) were analyzed using morphological, intercrossing, cytological, and RFLP data. Abundant variation was found for morphological characters and for RFLP patterns both between and within accessions, and each accession could be uniquely identified by RFLP pattern. Several plants were found to be F1 hybrids between different accessions, indicating that intercrossing had occurred when these were planted for seed increase. Patterns of RFLP diversity were found to correspond with geographic distribution. Analysis of the number of RFLP fragments observed per accession indicates that additional field collections of this complex of taxa will yield additional genetic variability.

Introgression analysis of an interspecific hybrid population in peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) using RFLP and RAPD markers.

Forty-six introgression lines (F10C9) from a cross between Arachis hypogaea L. (2n = 4x = 40) and A. cardenasii Krapov. & W. C. Gregory (2n = 2x = 20) were analyzed for the introgression of A. cardenasii chromosome segments. Seventy-three RFLP probes and 70 RAPD primers, expressing from one to four A. cardenasii-specific bands, were used to evaluate the set of introgression lines. Thirty-four RFLP probes and 45 RAPD primers identified putative A. cardenasii introgressed chromosome segments in one or more lines. Introgressed segments were detected by RFLP analysis in 10 of the 11 linkage groups; the smallest introgressed fragments were detected by single RFLP markers and the largest were detected by three or four adjacent markers and represented introgressed segments of 30-40 cM. Similar results were obtained with RAPD markers, although markers detecting introgressed fragments could not be placed on the peanut linkage map. Introgression into both A. hypogaea genomes was detected and its implication in breeding for disease resistance is discussed.

Variation of isozyme patterns among Arachis species.

The genus Arachis contains a large number of species and undescribed taxa with patterns of genetic variation that are little understood. The objectives of this investigation were to estimate genetic diversity among species of Arachis by utilizing electrophoretic techniques and to establish the potential for use of isozymes as markers for germplasm introgression. One-hundred-and-thirteen accessions representing six of the seven sections of the genus were analyzed for isozyme variation of 17 enzymes. Section Rhizomatosae species were not included because they produce very few seeds. Seeds were macerated and the crude extract was used for starch-gel electrophoretic analyses. Although the cultivated species has few polymorphic isozymes, the diploid species are highly variable and two-to-six bands were observed for each isozyme among accessions. Because of the large number of isozyme differences between A. hypogaea and A. batizocoi (the presumed donor of the B genome), this species can no longer be considered as a progenitor of the cultivated peanut. Seed-to-seed polymorphisms within many accessions were also observed which indicate that germplasm should be maintained as bulk seed lots, representative of many individuals, or as lines from individual plants from original field collections. The area of greatest interspecific genetic diversity was in Mato Grosso, Brazil; however, the probability of finding unique alleles from those observed in A. hypogaea was greatest in north, north-central, south and southeast Brazil. The large number of polymorphic loci should be useful as genetic markers for interspecific hybridization studies.

Development of an RFLP linkage map in diploid peanut species.

An RFLP linkage map of peanut has been developed for use in genetic studies and breeding programs aimed at improving the cultivated species (Arachis hypogaea L.). An F2 population derived from the interspecific hybridization of two related diploid species in the sectionArachis (A. stenosperma ×A. cardenasii) was used to construct the map. Both random genomic and cDNA clones were used to develop the framework of the map. In addition, three cDNA clones representing genes coding for enzymes involved in the lipid biosynthesis pathway have been mapped in peanut. Of the 100 genomic and 300 cDNA clones evaluated, 15 and 190, respectively, revealed polymorphisms among the parents of our mapping population. Unfortunately, a large number of these produced complex banding patterns that could not be mapped. Of the 132 markers analyzed for segregation, 117 are distributed among 11 linkage groups, while 15 have not yet been associated with any other marker. A total map distance of approximately 1063 cM has been covered to-date.