Abstract Detail

Economic Botany

Herron, Sterling [1], Ciotir, Claudia [1], Miller, Allison [1].

Crops of the Future: Identifying Wild Herbaceous Perennial Legumes for Prebreeding and Domestication.

The vast majority of the world’s grain and cereal crops are annual species (rice, corn, wheat, beans), which have historically been chosen due to their swift generation time and rapid response to artificial selection and breeding. However, these systems also require yearly chemical input and often tilling, which results in runoff of nonrenewable topsoil. In this regard, the adoption of perennial crops offers several advantages: retention of soil, water, and nutrients by roots, as well as fewer fertilizer and pollutant inputs into soil. Legumes (Fabaceae) offer the additional advantage of fixing nitrogen in the soil, an essential nutrient for photosynthesis. Working with The Land Institute (Salina, KS) and the Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis, MO), this project has two goals: 1) to systematically inventory wild, perennial, herbaceous legumes and to construct a searchable, on-line database for these taxa; 2) to evaluate wild legume species based on a series of agricultural, ecological, ethnobotanical, and morphological traits, and to use these data to identify strong candidates for pre-breeding and ultimately domestication. To date 12 legume genera containing compatible herbaceous, perennial species have been identified: Cajanus, Cicer, Glycine, Lathyrus, Lupinus, Medicago, Mellilotus, Phaseolus, Trifolium, Vavilovia, Vicia, and Vigna. Promising species will be selected from this list for targeted seed collection and germination and growth trait trials, utilizing both greenhouse and field studies. This study will identify species that will best be suited for future breeding investments and a more sustainable perennial legume based agricultural system.

1 - Saint Louis University, Department of Biology, 3507 Laclede Ave, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA

Keywords:
perennial agriculture
sustainable agriculture
perennial pulse
land institute
perennial crop.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Economic Botany: Contributed Posters
Location: Exhibit Hall/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 1st, 2016
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 5:30 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PEN003
Abstract ID:241
Candidate for Awards:Economic Botany Section best poster