Evaluation of eggplant, wild relatives and introgression breeding materials for tolerance to abiotic stresses
- Autores: Gloria Villanueva Párraga
- Directores de la Tesis: Jaime Prohens Tómas (dir. tes.), María de la O Plazas Avila (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Politècnica de València ( España ) en 2024
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Laura Pascual Bañuls (presid.), Clara Pons Puig (secret.), Francesco Mercati (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Biotecnología por la Universitat Politècnica de València
- Menciones:
- Internacional
- Calificación: Sobresaliente Cum Laude
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: RiuNet
- Resumen
Climate change, driven by human activities, intensifies abiotic stress in agriculture, impacting productivity and ecosystem health. Rising demands for plant products expand agricultural lands, worsening climate change and desertification. Drought stress severely affects crop productivity, while excessive nitrogen fertilization disrupts the nitrogen cycle, causing environmental and health issues.
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important vegetable, and using genetic resources, including wild relatives, is crucial for breeding programs aimed at enhancing drought tolerance and nitrogen use efficiency. Advances in sequencing and genotyping have improved our understanding of stress-related traits in crops, supporting resilient cultivar development.
This doctoral thesis explores the potential of wild eggplant relatives to improve tolerance to abiotic stresses. The goal is to identify new genetic variations for breeding programs, focusing on valuable genetic resources, genomic regions, and candidate genes for more resilient eggplant varieties through genomic, transcriptomic, and phenotypic analyses.
Chapter I evaluates advanced backcrosses (ABs) of eggplant and wild relatives to improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) under low nitrogen (N) conditions. The study of S. elaeagnifolium and ABs in the eggplant genetic background under low N conditions revealed significant differences among parentals. High phenotypic diversity in ABs showed some transgressive individuals with higher yields and NUE than the cultivated parent. Evaluations of ABs from different genepools (S. insanum, S. dasyphyllum, and S. elaeagnifolium) under low N conditions highlighted the potential of these wild species for low nitrogen input breeding. Low N conditions decreased chlorophyll content but increased flavonol and anthocyanin levels, reducing aerial biomass, stem diameter, yield, and nitrogen and carbon content in plants and fruits. The high diversity in ABs supports the potential of wild relatives to enhance eggplant resilience under abiotic stress. Genotyping and phenotyping data enabled the identification and validation of QTLs for various traits, expanding the genomic understanding of eggplant.
Chapter II investigates drought response mechanisms in cultivated eggplant (S. melongena) and its wild relative S. dasyphyllum. Evaluated under hydroponic conditions with polyethylene glycol (PEG) concentrations (20% and 30%) at different phenological stages, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analyzed gene expression patterns. S. dasyphyllum demonstrated superior tolerance to osmotic stress compared to S. melongena, with more differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under stress. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analyses revealed that both species activated various transcription factors and stress response pathways, with S. dasyphyllum showing more extensive gene regulation. Key pathways included ABA signaling, MAPK signaling, and various biosynthesis pathways. These findings highlight S. dasyphyllum's potential as a gene source for developing drought-tolerant eggplant varieties, emphasizing the importance of using wild relatives to enhance crop tolerance and sustainability.
Overall, this doctoral thesis demonstrates the potential of wild eggplant relatives for breeding tolerance to abiotic stresses. Developing advanced backcrosses from different crop wild relatives expanded genetic variation, showing significant effects of nitrogen doses on various traits and identifying transgressive individuals with improved agronomic characteristics. The detection and validation of QTLs provided insights into eggplant productivity, nitrogen use efficiency, and drought response mechanisms, contributing to more resilient and sustainable eggplant varieties.
