Unlocking the power of gene banks: diversity in base growth temperature provides opportunities for climate-smart agriculture

Abstract

Abstract Implementation of context-specific solutions, including cultivation of varieties adapted to current and future climatic conditions, were found to be effective in establishing resilient, climate-smart agricultural systems. Gene banks play a pivotal role in this. However, a large fraction of the collections remains neither genotyped nor phenotyped. Hypothesising that significant genotypic diversity in Musa temperature responses exists, this study aimed to assess the diversity in the world’s largest banana gene bank in terms of base temperature (T base ) and to evaluate its impact on plant performance in the East African highlands during a projected climate scenario. 116 gene bank accessions were evaluated in the BananaTainer, a tailor-made high throughput phenotyping installation. Plant growth was quantified in response to temperature and genotype-specific T base were modelled. Growth response of two genotypes was validated under greenhouse conditions, and gas exchange capacity measurements were made. The model revealed genotype-specific T base , with 30 % of the accessions showing a T base below the reference of 14 °C. The Mutika/Lujugira subgroup, endemic to the East African highlands, appeared to display a low T base , although within subgroup diversity was revealed. Greenhouse validation further showed low T sensitivity/tolerance to be related to the photosynthetic capacity. This study, therefore, significantly advances the debate of within species diversity in temperature growth responses, while at the same time unlocking the power of gene banks. Moreover, we provide a high throughput method to reveal the existing genotypic diversity in temperature responses, paving the way for future research to establish climate-smart varieties.

Plant phenotyping relevance

バナナの温度応答と成長を定量化する高スループット表現型計測設備・手法を提示し、温室条件で検証しているため、表現型取得法が中心的です。

Code and data availability

The article's data availability statement indicates raw data are not yet publicly deposited; they must be requested from the authors. No public phenotype dataset, image, or author analysis code repository with an explicit authors' URL is present in the supplied blocks; cited URLs (WorldClim, FAOSTAT, R packages) are un

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