Dataset Information

Ethnolinguistic structuring of sorghum genetic diversity in Africa and the role of local seed systems.

ABSTRACT: Sorghum is a drought-tolerant crop with a vital role in the livelihoods of millions of people in marginal areas. We examined genetic structure in this diverse crop in Africa. On the continent-wide scale, we identified three major sorghum populations (Central, Southern, and Northern) that are associated with the distribution of ethnolinguistic groups on the continent. The codistribution of the Central sorghum population and the Nilo-Saharan language family supports a proposed hypothesis about a close and causal relationship between the distribution of sorghum and languages in the region between the Chari and the Nile rivers. The Southern sorghum population is associated with the Bantu languages of the Niger-Congo language family, in agreement with the farming-language codispersal hypothesis as it has been related to the Bantu expansion. The Northern sorghum population is distributed across early Niger-Congo and Afro-Asiatic language family areas with dry agroclimatic conditions. At a finer geographic scale, the genetic substructure within the Central sorghum population is associated with language-group expansions within the Nilo-Saharan language family. A case study of the seed system of the Pari people, a Western-Nilotic ethnolinguistic group, provides a window into the social and cultural factors involved in generating and maintaining the continent-wide diversity patterns. The age-grade system, a cultural institution important for the expansive success of this ethnolinguistic group in the past, plays a central role in the management of sorghum landraces and continues to underpin the resilience of their traditional seed system.

SUBMITTER: Westengen OT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4191803 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ethnolinguistic structuring of sorghum genetic diversity in Africa and the role of local seed systems.

Westengen Ola T OT Okongo Mark Atam MA Onek Leo L Berg Trygve T Upadhyaya Hari H Birkeland Siri S Kaur Khalsa Siri Dharma SD Ring Kristoffer H KH Stenseth Nils C NC Brysting Anne K AK

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20140915 39

Sorghum is a drought-tolerant crop with a vital role in the livelihoods of millions of people in marginal areas. We examined genetic structure in this diverse crop in Africa. On the continent-wide scale, we identified three major sorghum populations (Central, Southern, and Northern) that are associated with the distribution of ethnolinguistic groups on the continent. The codistribution of the Central sorghum population and the Nilo-Saharan language family supports a proposed hypothesis about a c ...[more]

PMID: 25225391

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Project description:Understanding the effects of actions undertaken by human societies on crop evolution processes is a major challenge for the conservation of genetic resources. This study investigated the mechanisms whereby social boundaries associated with patterns of ethnolinguistic diversity have influenced the on-farm distribution of sorghum diversity. Social boundaries limit the diffusion of planting material, practices and knowledge, thus shaping crop diversity in situ. To assess the effect of social boundaries, this study was conducted in the contact zone between the Chuka, Mbeere and Tharaka ethnolinguistic groups in eastern Kenya. Sorghum varieties were inventoried and samples collected in 130 households. In all, 297 individual plants derived from seeds collected under sixteen variety names were characterized using a set of 18 SSR molecular markers and 15 morphological descriptors. The genetic structure was investigated using both a Bayesian assignment method and distance-based clustering. Principal Coordinates Analysis was used to describe the structure of the morphological diversity of the panicles. The distribution of the varieties and the main genetic clusters across ethnolinguistic groups was described using a non-parametric MANOVA and pairwise Fisher tests. The spatial distribution of landrace names and the overall genetic spatial patterns were significantly correlated with ethnolinguistic partition. However, the genetic structure inferred from molecular makers did not discriminate the short-cycle landraces despite their morphological distinctness. The cases of two improved varieties highlighted possible fates of improved materials. The most recent one was often given the name of local landraces. The second one, that was introduced a dozen years ago, displays traces of admixture with local landraces with differential intensity among ethnic groups. The patterns of congruence or discordance between the nomenclature of farmers' varieties and the structure of both genetic and morphological diversity highlight the effects of the social organization of communities on the diffusion of seed, practices, and variety nomenclature.

Project description:Multi-parent populations contain valuable genetic material for dissecting complex, quantitative traits and provide a unique opportunity to capture multi-allelic variation compared to the biparental populations. A multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross (MAGIC) B-line (MBL) population composed of 708 F6 recombinant inbred lines (RILs), was recently developed from four diverse founders. These selected founders strategically represented the four most prevalent botanical races (kafir, guinea, durra, and caudatum) to capture a significant source of genetic variation to study the quantitative traits in grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. MBL was phenotyped at two field locations for seven yield-influencing traits: panicle type (PT), days to anthesis (DTA), plant height (PH), grain yield (GY), 1000-grain weight (TGW), tiller number per meter (TN) and yield per panicle (YPP). High phenotypic variation was observed for all the quantitative traits, with broad-sense heritabilities ranging from 0.34 (TN) to 0.84 (PH). The entire population was genotyped using Diversity Arrays Technology (DArTseq), and 8,800 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were generated. A set of polymorphic, quality-filtered markers (3,751 SNPs) and phenotypic data were used for genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We identified 52 marker-trait associations (MTAs) for the seven traits using BLUPs generated from replicated plots in two locations. We also identified desirable allelic combinations based on the plant height loci (Dw1, Dw2, and Dw3), which influences yield related traits. Additionally, two novel MTAs were identified each on Chr1 and Chr7 for yield traits independent of dwarfing genes. We further performed a multi-variate adaptive shrinkage analysis and 15 MTAs with pleiotropic effect were identified. The five best performing MBL progenies were selected carrying desirable allelic combinations. Since the MBL population was designed to capture significant diversity for maintainer line (B-line) accessions, these progenies can serve as valuable resources to develop superior sorghum hybrids after validation of their general combining abilities via crossing with elite pollinators. Further, newly identified desirable allelic combinations can be used to enrich the maintainer germplasm lines through marker-assisted backcross breeding.

Dataset Information

Ethnolinguistic structuring of sorghum genetic diversity in Africa and the role of local seed systems.

Publications

Ethnolinguistic structuring of sorghum genetic diversity in Africa and the role of local seed systems.

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