Site specific adaptation by natural selection. A case study with lentil.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Heiko Becker
• Subject Area: Plant Breeding and Plant Pathology
• Term: from 2013 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 239634932

In the context of conservation and use of plant genetic resources both storage in genebanks (ex-situ) and safeguard on-farm (in situ) are important concepts. Increasingly attention focuses on the continuous production of old varietes in on-farm management. To date little is known about the potential of "evolutionary" adaptation to site specific conditions and the mechanisms involved. The proposed project will investigate three questions: A Can natural selection during a short period of 10 generations lead to population changes and will they lead to site specific adaptation?In three old varieties the original populations will be compared with populations that were exposed to natural selection at three very different sites on-farm. Field trials with the original populations, generation 5, and generation 10 will be carried out at the three selection sites (phenotyping). Additionally the populations will be analysed with AFLP markers (genotyping). B What are the causes for site specific adaptation?The on-farm selection sites in this experiment differ mainly in water supply. To address the question populations from all sites after 10 generations of natural selection will be investigated. During three seasons field trials with and without drought stress will be carried out.C What is the significance of seed size for natural selection?Three old lentil varieties were selected during 6 generations for small and large seeds, respectively. The resulting populations will be in grown in field trials to investigate the correlation of seed size, agronomic performance, and fitness related traits. Genotyping will be carried out with SNP markers. The results may foster the identification of candidate genes for seed size.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Canada
• Participating Persons: Professorin Kirstin E. Bett; Professor Dr. Klaus Dittert; Professor Dr. Mehmet Senbayram; Professor Albert Vandenberg