Domesticating wild plants may result in more resilient crops

Wild plants may hold the key to building resilient crops for a world that is increasingly impacted by climate change. As global temperatures rise and weather patterns shift, the search for hardy, adaptable crop varieties has become more urgent than ever.

While our ancestors transformed many wild species into staple crops, could they have overlooked others with untapped potential?

Scientists at the University of Southampton believe that certain wild or underutilized plants might be vital in future to designing crops that will withstand the challenges of a warming world.

A rich heritage of cultivation

The journey of cultivation is an ancient one. Nearly 12,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherer ancestors became cultivators who selectively grew seeds from their best plants.

Over time, this led to hardier, more productive crops. Yet, not all wild species were deemed suitable for cultivation – some were left behind.

Can these forsaken wild species offer us any insights today?

Digging into the potential of wild plants

In their recently published study in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, the Southampton team, including scientists from Oxford and Sheffield, and the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, propose that certain wild species possess traits that make them prime candidates for cultivation.

They’ve drawn on a wealth of past research to probe why certain wild species were preferred over others and how cultivated plants differ genetically from their wild antecedents.

“Tens of thousands of plant species are edible, yet just a few hundred have been domesticated and a mere 15 species provide 90 percent of our calories,” stated Professor Mark Chapman of the University of Southampton, making a sobering point.

“Hundreds of wild plants were collected during the Neolithic period by humans, but were later abandoned as food sources. We have explored which genetic or physical traits facilitated or constrained the domestication of wild species,” he added.

This glaring disparity begs the question – why so few?

Traits of the chosen wild plants

The team identified three key factors that influence a plant’s suitability for cultivation.

First is plasticity – the ability of plants to adapt quickly to their environment and develop traits favored by humans, thus making them more practical for cultivation.

Second is genetic make-up, where simplicity plays a crucial role; traits governed by fewer genes are easier to modify. Thus simpler genetic programming makes it easier to change a plant’s morphology to meet human needs.

Lastly, mutation rate is significant; plants that mutate more rapidly can evolve faster, potentially producing larger seeds or more palatable fruits over shorter timeframes.

Planning for an uncertain future

Understanding what led to the dominance of certain plant species in agriculture could be crucial in identifying new potential crops for a changing climate.

“When plants were first domesticated thousands of year ago, humans only knew the climate and weather conditions they would face at that present time,” explained Professor Chapman.

“Now, using sophisticated climate modelling, we can predict how our world will warm and how our weather will change in the decades to come. This gives us the opportunity to think about the ways in which our crops will need to be resistant in the future.”

The team’s research emphasizes that plants overlooked or underutilized in the past may hold valuable traits that offer new opportunities to develop crops better suited to future environmental challenges.

By applying selective breeding and precision breeding tactics, these underdogs might just become the crops for a warming world.

Unlocking the potential of forgotten crops

While the history of modern agriculture has been dominated by a very small pool of crops, many wild plants and their biodiversity have yet to be explored.

Many of these plants have extraordinary characteristics, including drought resistance, pest tolerance, and the ability to grow in poor soils, all of which make them attractive candidates for a future of climate-resilient agriculture.

According to the University of Southampton team, advanced technologies such as genomics and precision breeding can unlock these traits.

By mapping the genomes of the wild relatives along with other, lesser-known crops, scientists can find genes responsible for desirable characteristics and incorporate them into new crop varieties.

This approach not only expands our agricultural repertoire but also provides insurance against the vulnerabilities of monoculture farming in an unpredictable climate.

The full study was published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

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