Projects

AdaptInWild (2012-2017) - Identifying adaptive variation in the wild progenitors of two cereal crops, maize and pearl millet - Funded by ANR

Project leader: M Tenaillon, Co-PI Y Vigouroux

Scientists involved from our team : Y Vigouroux, AC Thuillet, N Scarcelli, M Couderc, C. Mariac, C Berthouly

Climate changes are substantially modifying the biotic and abiotic environment of cultivated crops.A fast adaptation of crops is therefore necessary to sustain human demand particularly in developing countries. Cereal crops are the major source of food calories worldwide. While maize is the first cereal crop in terms of production, pearl millet produced on the driest environment on earth is a staple crop in Africa and India. Both crops, like most cereals, have undergone genetic bottlenecks as a consequence of domestication and subsequent improvement. Hence, part of the adaptive cryptic variability in their wild progenitors, Zea mays ssp. parviglumis and P. glaucum spp. monodii respectively, has been lost. AdaptInWild proposes to explore the wild reservoir of both crops and evaluate its potential contribution to future breeding efforts. The proposed project aims at (1) gaining a better understanding of the genetic bases of plant adaptation; (2) characterizing the wild adaptive diversity and alleles of interest; (3) providing guidelines for the conservation of wild genetic resources.

Associated publications:

Fustier MA, Brandenburg J, Boitard S, Lapeyronnie J, Eguiarte LE, Vigouroux Y, Manicacci D, Tenaillon MI (2017). Signatures of local adaptation in lowland and highland teosintes from whole-genome sequencing of pooled samples. Molecular Ecology 26(10):2738-2756

Ousseini IS, Bakasso Y, Kane NA, Couderc M, Zekraoui L, Mariac C, Manicacci D, Rhoné B, Barnaud A, Berthouly-Salazar C, Assoumane A, Moussa D, Moussa T, Vigouroux Y (2017) Myosin XI is associated with fitness and adaptation to aridity in wild pearl millet. Heredity 119:88-94

Rhoné B, Mariac C, Couderc M, Berthouly-Salazar C, Ousseini IS, Vigouroux Y (2017) No excess of cis-regulatory variation associated with intra-specific selection in wild pearl millet (Cenchrus americanus). Genome Biology Evolution 9(2):388-397