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Use of wild Pennisetum species for improving biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in pearl millet
Author(s) -
Sharma Shivali,
Sharma Rajan,
Pujar Mahesh,
Yadav Devvart,
Yadav Yashpal,
Rathore Abhishek,
Mahala Rajendra Singh,
Singh Indra,
Verma Yogendra,
Deora Virendra Singh,
Vaid Bhupesh,
Jayalekha Ayyathan Kakkadan,
Gupta Shashi Kumar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.1002/csc2.20408
Subject(s) - pennisetum , biology , introgression , pearl , backcrossing , agronomy , abiotic component , crop , cultivar , population , wet season , hybrid , drought tolerance , tropics , ecology , geography , biochemistry , demography , sociology , gene , archaeology
Pearl millet [ Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is one of the world's hardiest warm‐season cereal crop cultivated for food and animal feed in the semi‐arid tropics of Asia and Africa. This crop faces terminal drought during rainy and flowering‐stage heat stress during summer seasons. Blast is emerging as a serious threat affecting its production and productivity in India. Using wild P. violaceum (Lam) Rich. and pearl millet cultivars, prebreeding populations were developed following backcross method. These populations were evaluated in target ecologies in India at three locations during the 2018 summer season for flowering‐stage heat stress and at two locations during the 2018 rainy season for terminal drought stress. A total 18 introgression lines (ILs) from Population (Pop) 3 exhibited improved seed set under high heat stress vs. the cultivated parent, whereas no IL was better than the cultivated parent in Pop 4. Under rainfed conditions at Hisar and Bawal, India, 19 ILs from Pop 3 and 16 ILs from Pop 4 showed significantly higher dry fodder yield than the cultivated parents. Further, screening of ILs for five diverse pathotype isolates—Pg 45, Pg 138, Pg 186, Pg 204, and Pg 232—of blast resulted in the identification of resistant ILs. Use of these promising ILs in breeding programs will assist in developing new varieties and hybrids with improved tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The study indicated the genetic differences between the parents involved in crossing and also highlighted the importance of precise phenotyping of wild species for target trait prior to use in prebreeding work.