Healthy and Resilient Cereals and Pseudo-Cereals for Marginal Agriculture: Molecular Advances for Improving Nutrient Bioavailability

Abstract

With the ever-increasing world population, an extra 1.5 billion mouths need to be fed by 2050 with continuously dwindling arable land. Hence, it is imperative that extra food come from the marginal lands that are expected to be unsuitable for growing major staple crops under the adverse climate change scenario. Crop diversity provides right alternatives for marginal environments to improve food, feed, and nutritional security. Well-adapted and climate-resilient crops will be the best fit for such a scenario to produce seed and biomass. The minor millets are known for their high nutritional profile and better resilience for several abiotic stresses that make them the suitable crops for arid and salt-affected soils and poor-quality waters. Finger millet (Eleucine coracana) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica), also considered as orphan crops, are highly tolerant grass crop species that grow well in marginal and degraded lands of Africa and Asia with better nutritional profile. Another category of grains, called pseudo-cereals, is considered as rich foods because of their protein quality and content, high mineral content, and healthy and balance food quality. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), amaranth (Amaranthus sp.), and buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) fall under this category. Nevertheless, both minor millets and pseudo-cereals are morphologically different, although similar for micronutrient bioavailability, and their grains are gluten-free. The cultivation of these millets can make dry lands productive and ensure future food as well as nutritional security. Although the natural nutrient profile of these crop plant species is remarkably good, little development has occurred in advances in molecular genetics and breeding efforts to improve the bioavailability of nutrients. Recent advances in NGS have enabled the genome and transcriptome sequencing of these millets and pseudo-cereals for the faster development of molecular markers and application in molecular breeding. Genomic information on finger millet (1,196 Mb with 85,243 genes); S. italica, a model small millet (well-annotated draft genome of 420 Mb with 38,801 protein-coding genes); amaranth (466 Mb genome and 23,059 protein-coding genes); buckwheat (genome size of 1.12 Gb with 35,816 annotated genes); and quinoa (genome size of 1.5 Gb containing 54,438 protein-coding genes) could pave the way for the genetic improvement of these grains. These genomic resources are an important first step toward genetic improvement of these crops. This

Research Article Molecular characterization of intrapopulation genetic diversity in <i>Chenopodium</i> <i>quinoa</i> (Chenopodiaceae)

“…The genetic differentiation coefficient obtained (F ST ) when evaluating the nine populations in the five municipalities of the Department of Boyacá was 0.25; according to Wright (1978), values between 0.15 and 0.25 show high differentiation genetics that may be associated with the level of population structure, which tends to stabilize. The increase in the number of heterozygotes may have been the result of the species' reproduction system, also reflecting the influence of cultural practices since the materials selected for this study may have different origins and some may have been through the exchange of seeds between neighboring farmers or individuals selecting seeds from a crop cycle after cycle, both without pollination control (Costa et al, 2012;Morillo et al, 2017b;Morillo et al, 2020;Rodríguez et al, 2020).…”

“…No HW balance was found because of the mating nature of the individuals or mainly because of the population size (Cuajapé-Castelles, 2006). It is possible that, since the Blanca de Jericó and Piartal quinoa materials are the most cultivated in the Department of Boyacá, some individual efforts by quinoa farmers have been concentrated there from the genetic point of view, increasing the selection processes for obtaining individuals with higher yields and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors, thus causing changes in the allelic frequencies of certain genes and favoring some genotypic forms; therefore, the populations are not in balance (Costa et al, 2014;Rodríguez et al, 2020).…”

“…Therefore, small scale preservation of the genetic diversity of local quinoa materials, which is strongly associated mainly with its cultivation, is essential. Conserving agrobiodiversity also means preserving the cultivation associated with rural communities in the Andean region (Bazile, 2014;Rodríguez et al, 2020).…”

“…This is how the quinoa was distributed throughout the Andean region, from Colombia to northern Argentina and Chile (Zurita et al, 2014). It has great nutritional value because of its high content of essential amino acids, vitamins and secundary metabolites, with possible beneficial health effects (Pereira et al, 2019;Rodríguez et al, 2020). It has high genetic diversity in its phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, providing wide adaptability to stressed agroclimatological conditions (Hinojosa et al, 2018;Ali et al, 2019).…”

Small Millets for Enduring Food Security Amidst Pandemics

“…]. Rice, wheat, and maize make up 60% [ 21 ] of all staple crops, resulting in a monotonous diet. This lack of diversity also increases the risk of disruption in production and supply during calamities such as COVID-19, exacting a heavy toll on humankind.…”