Alternative Modes of Introgression-Mediated Selection Shaped Crop Adaptation to Novel Climates

Abstract

Recent plant genomic studies provide fine-grained details on the evolutionary consequences of adaptive introgression during crop domestication. Modern genomic approaches and analytical methods now make it possible to better separate the introgression signal from the demographic signal thus providing a more comprehensive and complex picture of the role of introgression in local adaptation. Adaptive introgression has been fundamental for crop expansion and has involved complex patterns of gene flow. In addition to providing new and more favourable alleles of large effect, introgression during the early stages of domestication also increased allelic diversity at adaptive loci. Previous studies have largely underestimated the effect of such increased diversity following introgression. Recent genomic studies in wheat, potato, maize, grapevine and ryegrass show that introgression of multiple genes, of as yet unknown effect, increased the effectiveness of purifying selection and promoted disruptive or fluctuating selection in early cultivars and landraces. Historical selection processes associated with introgression from crop wild relatives provide an instructive analogue for adaptation to current climate change and offer new avenues for crop breeding research that are expected to be instrumental for strengthening food security in the coming years.

Is winter coming? Impact of the changing climate on plant responses to cold temperature

“…Although yet to be explored in cold responses, the exogenous application of biomolecules offers the great advantage of preserving the variety of locally adapted landraces. Beyond these innovative molecular tools, results from recent studies confirm that introgression from wild relatives not only increased genetic diversity but also compensated for the effects of domestication, making it an effective approach to improve crop resilience (Blanco‐Pastor, 2022). Therefore, combining novel emerging tools with traditional agronomic practices holds great potential for ensuring food security in the face of climate change.…”