Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union Crop wild relatives in Europe Prioritizing species for conservation action Shelagh Kell University of Birmingham, UK Eurosite/Farmer’s Pride webinar Crop wild relative conservation – adding value to Europe’s natural sites 23 June 2020 Europe’s valuable crop wild relative diversity § Europe is an important centre of diversity of many crops and their wild relatives and these crop wild relatives (CWR) are potential genetic resources for crop improvement and thus important for food, nutrition and economic security § Food crops with significant CWR diversity in the region include wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oat (Avena sativa L.), sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), cabbage and other brassicas (Brassica L. spp. and allied genera), onion and other alliums (Allium L. spp.), asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and apple (Malus domestica L.) § Forage and fodder crops with CWR in the Europe include annual meadow grass (Festuca pratensis), white clover (Trifolium repens), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) Maxted, N., Avagyan, A. Frese, L., Iriondo, J.M., Magos Brehm, J., Singer, A. and Kell, S.P. (2015) ECPGR Concept for in situ conservation of crop wild relatives in Europe. Wild Species Conservation in Genetic Reserves Working Group, European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources, Rome, Italy. ecpgr.cgiar.org/fileadmin/templates/ecpgr.org/upload/WG_UPLOADS_PHASE_IX/WILD_SPECIES/Concept_for_in__situ_conservation_of_CWR_in_Europe.pdf Crop wild relative prioritization A PRAGMATIC AND SYSTEMATIC APPROACH BASED ON THREE MAIN CRITERIA NATIONAL OR REGIONAL CWR CHECKLIST CRITERION 1 Socio-economic value of crops Identify crops of high national, regional and global socioeconomic value Create a list of genera encompassing high priority crop genepools Extract taxa from CWR checklist in high priority crop genera (including synonyms) LIST OF WILD RELATIVES OF HIGH PRIORITY CROPS Utilization potential CRITERION 2 CRITERION 3 Relative threat status Select taxa of Select taxa under greatest utilization threat potential + LIST OF HIGH PRIORITY CWR Kell. S.P., Ford-Lloyd, B.V., Magos Brehm, J., Iriondo, J.M. and Maxted, N. 2017. Broadening the base, narrowing the task: prioritizing crop wild relative taxa for conservation action. Crop Science. doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2016.10.0873 CRITERION 1. Socio-economic value of crops HUMAN FOOD CROPS 10 year average annual production value of human food crops in Europe with CWR in the region Data source: FAOSTAT Production (billion value USD) Include these crops, plus human food crops not cultivated in Europe but with CWR in the region (e.g. quinoa) CRITERION 1. Socio-economic value of crops ANIMAL FOOD CROPS § Numbers of fodder species listed in: ü Council Directive of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of fodder plant seed (66/401/EEC) and/or ü The EU Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species and/or ü Annex I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) § And/or fodder species for which seed production data are provided by the European Seed Certification Agencies Association (ESCAA) CRITERION 1. Socio-economic value of crops ANIMAL FOOD CROPS Numbers of registered varieties of fodder crops in the EU with CWR in the region Fodder seed production acreage (ha) of crops with wild relatives in the region Data source: Common Catalogue of Varieties of Data source: European Seed Agricultural Plant Species Certification Agencies Association Fodder certified seed quantities (t) of crops with wild relatives in the region Data source: European Seed Certification Agencies Association NATIONAL OR REGIONAL CWR CHECKLIST CWR Catalogue for Europe and the Mediterranean > 25,000 species CRITERION 1 Identify crops of high national, regional and global socioeconomic value v Create a list of genera encompassing high priority crop genepools 210 human and animal food crops with CWR in Europe (+ Turkey) v 102 genera Extract taxa from CWR checklist in high priority crop genera (including synonyms) LIST OF WILD RELATIVES OF HIGH PRIORITY CROPS 5628 taxa (4373 species and 1255 sub-specific taxa) CRITERION 2 CRITERION 3 Select taxa of Select taxa under greatest utilization threat potential + LIST OF HIGH PRIORITY CWR CRITERION 2. Utilization potential The Gene Pool concept (Harlan and de Wet, 1971) Prioritize the closest relatives (GP1B, GP2) + notable examples of tertiary relatives that have known use or potential use for crop improvement The Taxon Group concept (Maxted et al., 2006) Prioritize the closest relatives (TG1B, TG2, TG3) + notable examples of TG4 that have known use or potential use for crop improvement CRITERION 2. Utilization potential TERTIARY (DISTANT) WILD RELATIVES Examples of traits in tertiary European priority CWR used in crop improvement CROP CROP WILD RELATIVE(S) TRAIT(S) Cabbage Brassica napus L. Triazine Resistance Lettuce Lactuca virosa L. Leaf aphid resistance Oat Avena barbata subsp. hirtula (Lag.) Tab. Morais Powdery mildew resistance A. byzantina K. Koch / A. longiglumis Durieu Crown rust resistance A. eriantha Durieu Powdery mildew resistance A. strigosa Schreb. Crown rust resistance / Stem rust resistance Rape Brassica oleracea L. Clubroot resistance / Seed yield B. tournefortii Gouan Resistance to Phoma lingam Strawberry Fragaria moschata Weston Gene transfer (fertility) / Improved aroma F. vesca L. Anthracnose resistance / Improved aroma / Powdery mildew resistance F. viridis Weston Day neutral Turnip Brassica fruticulosa Cirillo Aphid resistance Erucastrum canariense Webb & Berthel. Aphid and blight resistance Wheat Elymus trachycaulus (Link) Shinners Leaf rust resistance Elytrigia bessarabica (Săvul. & Rayss) Prokudin Soil salinity tolerance E. curvifolia (Lange) Holub Spot blot resistance E. elongata (Host) Nevski Barley yellow dwarf virus / Fusarium head blight resistance / Salt tolerance / Wheat streak mosaic virus E. juncea (L.) Nevski / E. obtusiflora (DC.) Tzvelev Soil salinity tolerance Wine grape Vitis amurensis Rupr. Cold tolerance / Frost tolerance V. labrusca L. Cold tolerance V. riparia Michx. / V. rupestris Scheele Phylloxera vitifoliae resistance / Rootstock CRITERION 2. Utilization potential DATA SOURCES npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomysearchcwr.aspx Vincent, H., Wiersema, J., Dobbie, S., Kell, S., Fielder, H., Castenada, N., Guarino, L., Eastwood, R. and Maxted, N. 2013. A prioritized crop wild relative inventory to help underpin global food security. Biological Conservation 167, 265–275. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2013.08.011 www.cwrdiversity.org/checklist NATIONAL OR REGIONAL CWR CHECKLIST CWR Catalogue for Europe and the Mediterranean > 25,000 species CRITERION 1 Identify crops of high national, regional and global socioeconomic value v Create a list of genera encompassing high priority crop genepools 210 human and animal food crops with CWR in Europe (+ Turkey) v 102 genera Extract taxa from CWR checklist in high priority crop genera (including synonyms) LIST OF WILD RELATIVES OF HIGH PRIORITY CROPS 5628 taxa (4373 species and 1255 sub-specific taxa) CRITERION 2 CRITERION 3 793 taxa (418 species and 375 sub-specific taxa) Select taxa of Select taxa under greatest utilization threat potential + LIST OF HIGH PRIORITY CWR CRITERION 3. Relative threat status RED LIST STATUS European regional Red List assessments published in 2010 Bilz, M., Kell, S.P., Maxted, N. and Lansdown, R.V. 2011. European Red List of Vascular Plants. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. 130 pp. ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/species/redlist/downloads/European_vascular_plants.pdf NATIONAL OR REGIONAL CWR CHECKLIST CWR Catalogue for Europe and the Mediterranean > 25,000 species CRITERION 1 Identify crops of high national, regional and global socioeconomic value v Create a list of genera encompassing high priority crop genepools 210 human and animal food crops with CWR in Europe (+ Turkey) v 102 genera Extract taxa from CWR checklist in high priority crop genera (including synonyms) LIST OF WILD RELATIVES OF HIGH PRIORITY CROPS 5628 taxa (4373 species and 1255 sub-specific taxa) CRITERION 2 CRITERION 3 793 taxa (418 species and 375 sub-specific taxa) Select taxa of Select taxa under greatest utilization threat potential + LIST OF HIGH PRIORITY CWR 863 taxa (485 species and 378 sub-specific taxa) Fodder/forage 315 Cereals 159 Vegetables (green) 103 Fruits 91 Vegetables (root)/fodder 49 Vegetables (salad) 47 Oils/fodder 41 Pulses 34 Nuts 32 Related crop use categories of 863 European priority Spices/oils/vegetables (green) 31 CWR taxa (species and sub-specific taxa) Spices 30 Seeds/oils 22 Vegetables (flavouring) 21 Vegetables (root) 18 Oils 14 Sugar/fodder/vegetables (green) 12 Vegetables (flavouring/green) 9 Beverages 8 Fruits (savoury) 8 Fruits/oils 6 Vegetables (salad)/forage 5 Herbs 3 Sugar 2 © Joana Magos Brehm Oils/spices 1 Numbers of CWR of taxa (n = 1061) Wheat 26 Faba bean, narbon bean and vetches 20 Sunflower seed 15 Alliums 11 Stonefruits 10 Blackcurrant, gooseberry, redcurrant 10 Strawberry 9 Oat 9 Muscadine/wine grape 9 Cabbage, turnip and other brassicas 9 Alfalfa, barrel medic 9 Barley 8 Asparagus 8 Walnut 6 Numbers of traits of confirmed or potential use for the Rape 6 improvement of 62 crops in 194 European priority CWR Garden pea 6 taxa (169 species and 25 sub-specific taxa) Chickpea 6 Watermelon 4 Lentil 4 Safflower seed 3 Lettuce 3