U.S. Crop Wild Relatives Gap Analysis Project:The next few years

Colin K. Khoury, Stephanie L. Greene, Karen A. Williams, & Chrystian C. Sosa

NPGS Curators Meeting June 14 2016

Fort Collins, Colorado

Crop wild relatives in the news

Western corn rootworm resistance from eastern gama grass (Tripsacum

dactyloides (L.) L.)

Salinity tolerance from Pecos sunflower

(Helianthus paradoxus Heiser)

Khoury et al. (2013) Crop Science 53(4): 1496

Eastern filbert blight resistance from

American filbert (Corylus americana Marshall)

Rootstock from northern California walnut (Juglans hindsii (Jeps.) R. E. Sm.)

CWR of the U.S. are valuable genetic resources

Pecos sunflower (Helianthus paradoxus Heiser)Okeechobee gourd (Cucurbita

okeechobeensis (Small) L. H. Bailey subsp.

Okeechobeensis)

Scrub plum (Prunus geniculata R. M. Harper)

Texas wild rice (Zizania texana Hitchc.)

CWR of the U.S. are threatened wild plants

Khoury et al. (2013) Crop Science 53(4): 1496

Inventory of crop wild relatives of the U.S.• Inventory includes a wide

range of utilized and potentially useful taxa, including both native and naturalized species occurring in the U.S.

• List peer reviewed by U.S. researchers, curators, breeders

• Inventory contains over 4,600 taxa

• CWR related to major food crops prioritized, along with U.S. iconic wild food crops (e.g. sugar maple, wild rice, pecan)

• 250 closely related, native taxa related to 38 major food crops = highest priority

Khoury et al. (2013) Crop Science 53(4): 1496

raspberry 8ribes 27squash 3star anise 1strawberry 8sugar maple 3sunflower 35sweet potato 9tepary bean 2vanilla 2walnut 5wild rice 5

Associated crop

Number of CWR

apricot 2beet 3blackberry 36blueberry 17cherry 2chestnut 3chives 1cotton 3cranberry 2fig 1garlic 1grape 28guava 1hazelnut 3lettuce 9lingonberry 3maize 3mate 5peach 10pecan 9pepper 1persimmon 2pistachio 1plum 17potato 1ramp 1

Highest priority CWR of the U.S.(native close relatives of important food

crops)

Khoury et al. (2013) Crop Science 53(4): 1496

Do we have what we need (before its too late)?

Photos: http://ashsmedia.org/art/index.php/Presenters/2013-Presenters/DSC02690-01, http://modernfarmer.com/2015/09/saving-wild-sunflower-seeds/, http://www.agron.iastate.edu/personnel/userspage.aspx?ID=22

Determine gaps in

conservation

TaxonomicGeographicEcological

CWR of the U.S. gap analysis method

Choose species or

area

Make conservation recommendat

ions

Model distributions

Gather occurrence

dataProcess data

62,000 records38,000 with coordinates

Potential distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.

Potential distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.

Potential distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.

Potential distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.

Further collecting priorities for priority CWR in the U.S.

Blac

kber

rySu

nflow

erGr

ape

Ribe

sBl

uebe

rry

Plum

Peac

hLe

ttuce

Peca

nSw

eet p

otat

oRa

spbe

rry

Stra

wber

ryM

ate

Waln

utW

ild ri

ceSq

uash

pep

oCo

tton

Beet

Ches

tnut

Haze

lnut

Lingo

nber

ryM

aize

Suga

r map

leTe

pary

bea

nAp

ricot

Cher

ryCr

anbe

rry

Pers

imm

onVa

nilla

Pota

toCh

ives

FigGa

rlic

Guav

aPe

pper

Pista

chio

Ram

pSt

ar an

ise

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Further collecting priorities for priority CWR in the U.S.

Further collecting priorities for priority CWR in the U.S.

• 219 species related to 36 crops are high priority for collecting • Collecting gaps in all 50 states + D.C.

State

# of CWR of high

priority for further

collectingNew York 87Virginia 85

Tennessee 82Texas 82North

Carolina 80West

Virginia 80Pennsylvani

a 78Ohio 77

Illinois 75Georgia 74

New Jersey 74Indiana 73

Arkansas 72Kentucky 72Maryland 72

Massachusetts 72

Missouri 72South

Carolina 72Florida 69

Alabama 68

Further collecting priorities for priority CWR in the U.S.

Number of CWR of high priority for further collecting per state

Castañeda-Álvarez et al. (2016) Nature Plants 2(4): 16022

Un-collected wild relatives of important food crops

Global hotspots for under-represented CWR of major food crops

China

TurkeyUSA

SpainIndia Ira

nIta

ly

GreeceFrance

Indonesia

MexicoBrazil

Russian Federation

Morocco

Algeria

Pakistan

Portugal

Peru

Ukraine

Azerbaija

n

Thailand

Malaysia

Armenia

BulgariaJapan

Afghanistan

Myanmar

Syrian Arab Republic

Australia

Israel

Romania

Turkmenistan

Tunisia

Viet Nam

AlbaniaNepal

Hungary

Georgia Iraq

Lebanon0

20

40

60

80

100

120 Number of high priority species (HPS) needing collect-ing per country

The U.S. is a global hotspot for under-represented CWR of major food crops

Castañeda-Álvarez & Khoury et al. (2016) Nature Plants 2(4): 16022

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300

CWR in global development targets

“By 2020 maintain genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at national, regional and international levels, and ensure access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge as internationally agreed”

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Target 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote

sustainable agriculture

https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/

CWR in global conservation targets

“By 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species, is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.”

Convention on Biological DiversityStrategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020

Aichi Biodiversity Targets

• Our goal is comprehensive conservation nationally, and to provide an example for other countries to meet their commitments:• Comprehensive and easily accessed information on

CWR species, their distributions, occurrences, and conservation status

• Broad diversity of CWR secured in situ and ex situ• Germplasm of CWR readily available to global

community of plant breeders and scientists• National strategy for long-term conservation of CWR of

the U.S. established and activated, involving broad partnerships across federal and state agencies, tribal nations, NGOs, and beyond

Crop wild relatives of the United States:

where are we headed?

• CWR of North America book- collaborations across NPGS, ARS and well beyond in 3 countries• Will help advance U.S. gap analysis project

• Research exchange with CIAT to contribute to book and gap analysis• NatureServe- highlighting CWR in threatened plants

database• USFS, Plant Conservation Alliance, international, WWF,

etc.- increasing contact and relationship building• National Genetic Resources Advisory Council support

and follow-up• Ambitious proposals for increasing funding for

collecting and conservation to meet goals by 2020 (or so)

Crop wild relatives of the United States:

advances and collaborations

Castañeda-Álvarez & Khoury et al. (2016) Global conservation priorities for crop wild relatives. Nature Plants 2(4): 16022.

Khoury et al. (2013) An inventory of crop wild relatives of the United States. Crop Science 53(4): 1496.

Khoury et al. (2016) Measuring the state of conservation of crop diversity: a baseline for marking progress toward biodiversity conservation and sustainable development goals. Crop Wild Relatives project policy brief. 6 p.

USFS/ARS Strategic Framework: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/documents/cwr/FrameworkNativeCropWildRelativesOct2014.pdf

Cranberry project: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/cranberry/index.shtml

Thank you!c.khoury@cgiar.org | colin.khoury@usda.ars.gov